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HISTORY OF CALIFORNIA. 



^o"' 



History of California 

FBOM THE 

EARLIEST PERIOD OF ITS DISCOVERY 

TO THE PRESENT TIME. 

By Lucia Norman. . 

1 ■' 

Second Edition, 

REVISED AND ENLARGED 

By T. E. 



{[ JUL 11 / 

SAN FRANCISCO: 
A. ROMAN, AGT., PUBLISHER. 

1883. 



Copyrighted, 1883. 
By a Roman. Agent. 






BACON & COMPANY, 
PRINTERS, 



PEEFACE. 



The following " History of California " has been 
written to supply the public with a brief and reliable 
account of the progress of this State from the time of 
its first discovery to the present. 

It is hoped that the concise relation of the many 
interesting facts contained in it, and gleaned from 
various sources, will commend it to all who are in- 
terested in the fortunes of the " Goldon State." 

LUCIA NORMAN. 

San Francisco, 1867. 



PEEFACE TO SECOND EDITION. 



The first edition of " The Popular History of Cali- 
fornia " supplied a want not previously provided for. 
The book was well received, and, while the edition 
lasted, it was in active demand. A lapse of nearly 
sixteen years has since transpired, during which some 
of the most interesting events in the history of the 
State have occurred. This edition has, therefore, 
been enlarged and revised, so as to bring the history 
down to the present day. The essential feature of 
conciseness which ruled in the former edition has been 
adhered to in the statement covering the later period. 
It is therefore hoped that the volume in its present 
form will be deemed worthy of as cordial a reception 

as it received before. 

THE PUBLISHER. 

San Francisco, 1883. 



OONTEE'TS. 



CHAPTER I. 

Description of California.— Discovery of the South Sea.— First 
Settlement made upon its Shores.— Search for a Strait at the 
Isthmus of Darien.— First Attempt under Cortez to reach 
California.— Misfortunes and Crimes of the Adventurers.— 
Their Arrival at Santa Cruz.— The Expedition of Cortez 17 



CHAPTER II. 

The Sufferings of Cortez and his Followers.— Exploration of 
the Coast of the Gulf of California.— Alvar Nunez Cabeza 
and his Companions.— Keports of Treasures at the South.— 
Expeditions of the Viceroy of Mexico.— Chagrin of Cortez. — 
His Death. — Voyage of Cabrillo 33 



CHAPTER III. 

California neglected by the Spaniards.— Sir Francis Drake's 
first View of the South Sea.— His Visit to California* 43 



CONTENTS. 



CHAPTER IV. 

The Commerce of Spain harassed by Privateers.— Expedition 
of Viscaino. — The Settlement at the Bay of La Paz.— Re- 
moval North and a Fight with the Indians.— The Poverty of 
Lower California 50 



CHAPTER V. 

Second Expedition of Viscaino. — Discovery of the Port of 
Monterey.— Death of Viscaino.— Expedition in Search of 
Pearls.— Attempt of Otondo to found a Colony.— Hostility 
of the Indians and Cowardice of the Spaniards.— Settlement 
at San Bruno. — Missions established. — The Religion of the 
Indians. — Their Treatment by the Missionaries. — An Insur- 
rection 58 



CHAPTER VI. 

Father Salva-Tierra at San Dionysio. — Baptism of a Casique. — 
The Hechiceros and their Treatment of the Sick.— Father 
Ugarte.— A Hurricane.— Death of Fathers Salva-Tierra and 
Ugarte.— Building of the First Vessel in California.— State 
of the Missions 73 



CHAPTER VII. 

Insurrection of the Pericues.— Martyrdom of Fathers Tamaral 
and Carranco. — Devotion of the Northern Indians. — The ex- 
pulsion of the Jesuits. — End of the History of Lower Cali- 
fornia 82 



CONTENTS. xi 



CHAPTER VIII. 



Earliest Settlement of Upper California.— Father Junipero 
Serra.— Sufferings of the Colonists.— Consecration of the first 
Church erected in California.— Trouble with the Indians. ... 87 



CHAPTER IX. 

The Discovery of the Bay of San Francisco.— Return of Portala 

, to San Diego.— Arrival of the San ^n«omo.— Rediscovery of 

the Bay of Monterey.— Arrival of Monks from Mexico.— 

Missions established.— Frost at San Antonio 



CHAPTER X. 

The Mission Dolores established.— Effect of Pictures upon the 
Indians.— The Pious Fund.— Several Missions founded.— An 
Attack upon San Diego.— Father Jayme murdered.— Death 
of Father Junipero Serra 106 



CHAPTER XI. 

State of the Converted Indians.— Selfishness of the Fathers.— 
Wealth of the Missions.— The Native Californians.— The In- 
dians freed.— Loss of Power by the Friars.- Arrival of Com- 
modore Jones.— The American Flag raised over Monterey.— 
Fall of the Missions HO 



XU CONTENTS. 



CHAPTER XII. 

Captain John A. Sutter.— He joins the Forces of Michelto- 
rena.— The Californians victorious.— Arrival of John C. Fre- 
mont. — Treachery of Castro. —Collision of the Americans 
with the Mexican Authorities.— The Flag of the United 
States raised at Monterey.— Arrival of Commodore Stock- 
ton.— Capture of Los Angeles.— Its Recapture by the Mexi- 
cans 119 



CHAPTER Xm. 

Stockton recommences the Subjugation of California. — He pro- 
ceeds to San Pedro.— Meets General Kearny.— March to Los 
Angeles. — Battles on the Banks of the San Gabriel and the 
Plains of the Mesa.— Stockton enters Los Angeles.— Ap- 
points Fremont Governor of California. — His Collision with, 
General Kearny 132 

CHAPTER XIV. 

California ceded to the United States by Mexico.— Immigra- 
tion.— Sufferings of the Donner Party.— Discovery of Gold 
at Coloma.— Sutter's Mill.— The Cities deserted.— Bush of 
Gold-seekers into Calif ornia.— Sudden Growth of Towns 140 



CHAPTER XV. 

Gamblers and their Victims. — Speculations of Merchants. — 
Progress of Gold-mining. — A Convention. — A State Govern- 
ment adopted.— California admitted into the Union 151 



CONTENTS. XIU 



CHAPTER XVI. 

Growth of Towns.— Floods and Fires.— The Chinese.— Arrival 
of Steamships from New York.— Great Fires in San Fran- 
cisco. — Its rapid Growth 168 



CHAPTER XVn. 

Indian Wars.— Indian Reservations.— The Scenery of Califor- 
nia.— Description of the Yosemite Valley.— Of Napa and 
other Valleys.— The Big Trees.— Mud Volcanoes.— Geysers or 
Hot Springs. — Caves and Rocks 165 



CHAPTER XVIH. 

The first Quartz Mill erected. — Other Improvements in Min- 
ing.— Scheming Politicians. — Scenes in San Francisco. — The 
Vigilance Committee established.— Land Claims 176 



CHAPTER XIX. 

Filibusterism.— Walker.— Improvements in San Francisco.— 
Murder of James King of William.— Second Reign of the 
Vigilance Committee 182 



CHAPTER XX. 

Establishment of Schools and Churches.— Benevolent Socie- 
ties.— Evidences of Wealth.— Political Troubles.— Noted 
Duels.— The Loyalty of California 188 



XIV CONTENTS. 



CHAPTER XXI. 

The New Almaden.— The Mining Excitement of 1863.— The 
Silver Mines of Nevada.— Mining Speculation and its Ef- 
fects.— Discovery of the Big Bonanza.— Decline in Mining. . 193 



CHAPTER XXH. 

steamship Lines to China and other Countries. — Transconti- 
nental Railroads.— The Chinese Question.— The Hoodlum 
Riots. — The Pick-handle Brigade. — The Kearney Anti-Chi- 
nese Agitation.— The Sand Lot.— Unsuccessful Efforts to 
Suppress the Agitation. — Kearney's Influence. — Organiza- 
tion of the Workingmen's Party.— Adoption of a New Con- 
stitution.— End of the Agitation 197 



CHAPTER XXHI. 

Calls to Arms. — The Amador War. — The Modoc War. — Massa- 
cre of the Peace Commissioners.— Captain Jack and his Con- 
federates Captured and Hanged 204 



CHAPTER XXIV. 

Development of Wheat-growing.— Wheat Exports.— Scenes in 
the Valleys and on the Rivers.— Present Insignificance of 
Mining. — Hydraulic Mining. — Effects on Valley Farms. — 
" Slickens."— Litigation 208 



CONTENTS. XV 



CHAPTER XXV. 

Agricultural Progress.— Wine*making.— Semi-tropical Fruit 
Culture. — Earthquakes. — Prospects.— Industrial Develop- 
ment. — Settlement. — Tourists.— Climate.— Commerce 212 



HISTORY OF CALIFORNIA. 



CHAPTER I. 

Description of California.— Discovery of the South Sea.— First Set- 
tlement made upon its Shores.— Search for a Strait at the Isthmus 
of Darien. — First Attempt under Cortez to reach California. — 
Misfortunes and Crimes of the Adventurers.— Their Arrival at 
Santa Cruz. — The Expedition of Cortez. 

That portion of America now called California — 
which has within its borders a large and enlightened 
population, many fine cities and towns, and all things 
necessary to give it a prominent place in the civilized 
world — was three hundred and fifty years ago quite 
unknown to the inhabitants of the other parts of the 
globe. Then the country was in its natural state, 
unimproved by any work of man. There were no 
roads, except the trails made by the Indians, or the 
footprints of bears, deer, and other animals, that wan- 
dered fearlessly through the forests, where the stroke 
of an ax had never sounded. Trees grew to an im- 
mense size, and after the lapse of ages fell and rotted 



18 HISTORY OF CALIFORNIA. 

away, thus forming a rich soil, which the wild inhabi- 
tants never thought of cultivating. Birds flitted from 
bough to bough of the giants of the woods, or flew 
across the barren plains that needed only the toil of 
man to become as fertile and beautiful as the valleys 
that nestled among the mountains. 

Many fine rivers irrigated the country, whose 
waters were as clear as crystal, and free from the 
washings of ore and other impurities, which now ren- 
der them turbid and yellow. The people of this beau- 
tiful country were then savages, who roamed through 
its forests and over its plains unclothed, except in 
rude garments woven of sedge or cut from the skins 
of wild beasts. Even these were worn only by the 
women, the men thinking they were degraded by 
appearing in any clothing. They often wore upon * 
their arms and neck ornaments made of shells, pearls, 
and feathers ; but they had no idea of fashioning any- 
thing from gold or copper, or indeed from any metals, 
as many of the Indians of other parts of America had, 
and they were of all the races on the continent the 
most ignorant. They lived in miserable huts built near 
streams of water, or in caves in the earth, having 
indeed no fixed home, but making their resting places 
under the wide branches of trees, or in any sheltered 



HISTORY OF CALIFORNIA. 19 

nook. These natural retreats were as good as any 
they themselves provided ; for their best houses were 
only rude tents made of the branches of trees, and 
most of them merely little spaces of ground fenced in 
by piles of stones, and without any roof whatever, so 
that these miserable people were exposed to the heat 
of the sun and the rain that fell. 

It seems, indeed, that their condition was much 
worse than that of the beasts and fishes upon which 
they lived ; for these found homes in the forests or 
the deep sea, and God himself had given them a cov- 
ering of hair or scales most suitable for them. 

At that time there were a great many beasts in 
California which are now almost unknown ; for al- 
though the Indians depended on them almost entirely 
for subsistence, their wants were so few that the dif- 
ferent animals increased in numbers and filled the 
woods, while countless birds flew over the plains and 
swam on the beautiful lakes and rivers. 

There were in the southern portion of California, 
which was first settled, but which is now almost for- 
saken, a number of very curious animals. One was 
called the Taye, and was about the size of a calf of a 
year and a half old, and resembled that animal in 
figure, but must have presented a strange appearance, 



20 HISTORY OF CALIFORNIA. 

for its head was like that of a deer, and its horns 
thick and crooked like those of a sheep. This animal 
was no doubt often hunted by the Indians, for its 
flesh was very palatable. There was also another 
species, which resembled a sheep, only that it was 
much larger, that wandered in droves about the for- 
ests and mountains. 

It would have proved very interesting to see the 
Indians set forth from their lodges to hunt these ani- 
mals, and the hares, rabbits, and wild goats that 
abounded throughout the country. 

Although the inhabitants had no established govern- 
ment, as all civilized nations have, and had not even 
chiefs to lead and command them, as was usual with 
nations of other parts of America, they paid some 
attention to the wishes of the ablest and best men 
among them, and by their command would often meet 
together to gafher the wild grain and fruit, or to fish 
and hunt. When they moved from one place to 
another, the men carried nothing but their bows and 
arrows, a light boat made of the bark of trees, a little 
piece of wood for procuring fire, which was soon done 
by rubbing it between their hands, and a large case in 
which they carried the sinews of deer, feathers, and 
flints, to repair their bows and arrows. As they wore 



HISTORY OF CALIFORNIA. 21 

little or no clothing, they of course had no pockets, 
but were as anxious as most people to prevent their 
burdens from annoying them, so to keep this case of 
small articles out of their way, they bored holes in 
their ears, and hung it to them by means of cords 
made of the sinews of deer. The women carried the 
children and all the heavy articles in nets made of a 
sort of thread spun from herbs and palms. These the 
men manufactured, and they were often of very 
pretty patterns, and of a variety of colors. Both men 
and women wore them upon their heads, and when a 
woman accepted an offer of marriage — which was 
generally made by the lover offering her a jug, in 
their language called olla^ of mescal thread — she pre- 
sented her future husband with a net for the hair. 

These strange people showed many good traits of 
character amidst all their ignorance. They shared 
their food with each other as long as it lasted, were 
not quarrelsome, and did not torture their captives as 
did many of the North American Indians. Yet they 
were an ignorant and barbarous people, totally unable 
to use or appreciate the blessings by which they were 
surrounded. 

Boundless forests rose in their midst, yet they never 
dreamed of cuttinor them down and buildin«^ with the 



22 HISTORY OF CALIFORNIA. 

timber comfortable houses. Vast tracks of rich land 
were on every side, but they never thought of culti- 
vating them. Beds of pearls lay along the coasts 
beneath the ocean waves, but they knew nothing of 
their value, or that of the gold and silver that was 
mingled with their soil and washed by the current of 
every river that swept across their broad domain. 

It seems very strange to us that so fine a country 
should for many centuries have remained unknown to 
the rest of the world ; but we may rest assured it was 
for some wise purpose. Nor need we wonder that it 
was so, when we remember that until the present cen- 
tury the use of steam was almost unknown, and that 
until the time of Columbus it was not even thought 
that the world was round, or that it could have upon 
its surface room for such an extent of land as Amer- 
ica ; and it was even some time after it was discovered 
before its extent was known, or that the existence of 
California and the South Sea, or Pacific Ocean, was 
even imagined. 

I think that I can best give you a just idea of the 
great dangers and difiiculties attending the discovery 
and early settlement of this peninsula by taking you 
back to the time when Christopher Columbus first 
sailed over the seas and landed in America, then an 
unknown world. 



HISTORY OF CALIFORNIA. '23 

He accomplished this in the year 1492, having ob- 
tained from Spain, through the kindness of its Queen, 
Isabella, who sold her jewels to help him, a small fleet 
with which to attempt to discover a new route to the 
East Indies. This was greatly desired on account of 
the treasures of silk, spices, and gems they produced, 
and which were then obtained by Europeans with great 
difficulty, as only a passage overland was known, and 
that was guarded by the Mohammedans. 

Now Columbus thought that the shortest way to 
reach those islands would be to sail directly west 
across the Atlantic Ocean. He did not know that the 
great continent of America lay in his way; therefore 
when, after a long and perilous voyage, he reached 
the Bahama Islands, touching first at St. Salvador, 
and saw the tropical fruits, the brilliant and many- 
colored flowers, and the copper-colored natives wear- 
ing ornaments of gold, he though the object of his 
voyage was accomplished — a passage to the Indies 
found ; and acting upon that belief, called the islands 
he first saw the West Indies. 

When he returned to Spain, taking with him rich 
spices and specimens of the gold he had found on the 
islands, he was welcomed with great joy and every 
mark of honor and gratitude. 



24 HISTORY OF CALIFORNIA. 

After that he made three other voyages. In the 
third he discovered the Continent of America. He 
was led to it by meeting with the current caused by 
the rapid stream of the Orinoco, from the violence of 
which he justly concluded that it flowed through, 
and was supplied by, a vast extent of country. After 
landing at several points, with whose beauty he was 
so much charmed that he declared the Terrestrial Par- 
adise must have been situated within them, he re- 
turned to the islands he had first discovered, and on 
which he had planted a colony. He found it in a dis- 
turbed state, and although all outward demonstrations 
were soon quelled, rage and jealousy continued to 
rankle in many minds against him, both in the New 
World and the Old. 

At this time, incited by accounts of the great riches 
of the newly discovered regions, the Spaniards fitted 
out some private expeditions. On one of these, 
Amerigo Vespucci, a Florentine gentleman, sailed ; 
and on his return to Europe published a glowing ac- 
count of the newly found lands, which was so eagerly 
received that his name was given to the country he 
described. Thus was Columbus defrauded of an 
iTonor that was justly his. But greater trials than 
that awaited him. After having made a fourth voy- 



HISTORY OF CALIFORNIA. 25 

age and many fresli discoveries, he was followed to 
the New World by the hatred and jealousy of the 
Spaniards, and was arrested on some protext by a 
governor whom King Ferdinand had sent out, and 
taken to Spain in chains. These Columbus ever kept 
before him as a memorial of the treachery and ingrat- 
itude of those he had so greatly benefited. 

This great man died at Valladolid in 1506, in the 
fifty-ninth year of his age. He was succeeded by 
men whose discoveries were inspired more by a love of 
gold than a desire to gain knowledge of the wonderful 
sphere upon which they dwelt or to Christianize its 
heathen people. In all the voyages he had under- 
taken, Columbus had neither seen nor heard anything 
of the South Sea, or, as it was afterwards named, the 
Pacific Ocean ; but a few years after his death, sev- 
eral voyages from the West Indies toward the south 
were undertaken by the Spaniards that had settled on 
those islands. They had heard of gold-bearing lands 
lying in that direction and were most anxious to pos- 
sess them. As early as 1510, a colony was planted 
upon the Isthmus of Darien, or Panama, which con- 
nects Nortli and South America. 

« 

This was the first settlement made on the Continent 
of America ; and althouirh those on the northern and 



26 HISTORY OF CALIFORNIA. 

eastern parts are more generally known about, and 
you may perhaps have supposed that they were the 
earliest made, you must now remember that they were 
not established until several years after that planted 
on the northern coast of Darien, by Vasco Nunez de 
Balboa. 

In those early days the Spaniards seemed to think 
of nothing but gold and gems, which they expected to 
find lying as commonly as pebbles or stones upon the 
surface of the earth. They were constantly disap- 
pointed in this expectation ; but they were so filled 
with it that they never rested in one place, no matter 
how rich and beautiful it was, but continually sought 
something better. Therefore, no sooner were Balboa 
and his followers settled on the coast of Darien than 
he, with a few followers, started forth in quest of gold. 

Then for the first time he heard of a vast body of 
water lying toward the south, and was guided by the 
son of a native chief to the top of a high mountain, 
whence he saw the placid waters of the Pacific spark- 
ling in the mornino^ sun. 

He gave it the name of the South Sea, and, filled 
with joy at his great discovery, descended to the 
shore, and in full costume, bearing in his hands the 
Spanish flag, went into the waters and took possession 



HISTORY OF CALIFORNIA. 27 

of them and the lands they washed, in the name of 
his sovereign, the King of Spain. 

This happened in 1513. Four years later this illus- 
trious man was put to death by order of one of the 
governors of Darien. He had during his life exhibited 
great cruelty towards the Indians, and for this it may 
be that God brought upon him the jealousy and ha- 
tred of his fellow-adventurers, which effected at last 
his shameful death. 

This great sin of cruelty to the Indians, the rightful 
owners of the soil, was very prevalent for a long time. 
In South America and Mexico, where the precious 
metals were found, the most horrible massacres were 
perpetrated by the Spaniards, in order that they might 
wrest from the untutored natives their treasures of 
gold, gems, and lands. 

Among their most relentless persecutors was Ferdi- 
nand Cortez, the conquerer of Mexico. After a war 
of two years, he became master of the capital of that 
empire on the 13th of August, 1521, and soon after of 
all the country lying between that point and the South 
Sea, of which then there was no knowledge except 
near the Antarctic Circle. To discover the northern 
portion was the great ambition of Cortez. In order 
to effect that, he, in 1522, gave orders for the building 



28 HISTORY OF CALIFORNIA. 

of two brigantines and two corvettes, a species of 
light, round ship much used by the Spaniards at that 
time. We should think it a very clumsy vessel now ; 
the masts all leaned forward, and the sails were of an 
awkward, three-cornered shape. However, the early 
navigators found them useful, and thought them very 
fine. 

At his own expense Cortez built these ships and 
fitted them out, for he thought the fame and wealth 
he would gain would amply repay him. His chief 
object was to discover a strait which was supposed to 
be near the Isthmus of Darien, and to connect the At- 
lantic with the Pacific Ocean. Such a strait was 
greatly desired, for it would have made the voyage 
from Spain to the East Indies only half the distance 
they were compelled to take. 

For this reason, the discoverer of such a strait 
would have been even as highly thought of as Colum- 
bus was when he returned to Spain with the first 
news of America ; and Cortez spared no effort to be- 
come the fortunate man. In order to procure strong 
and reliable ships, he caused great quantities of iron, 
anchors, rigging, and other naval stores to be brought 
from Vera Cruz, a town on the northeastern coast of 
Mexico, or New Spain, as it was then called, to Zaca- 



HISTORY OF CALIFORNIA. 29 

tula, a small town lying over two hundred leagues 
southwest upon the shores of the Pacific. To carry 
these stores through the country was at that time a 
very great undertaking, and Cortez must have been 
delighted when they all safely arrived, together with 
the forty ship-builders, blacksmiths, and seamen that 
accompanied them. But, unfortunately, after these 
precious goods were stored at Zacatula, the magazine 
or house that contained them took fire, and all except 
the anchors and nails were destroyed. This, however, 
did not discourage Cortez, and with great energy and 
perseverance he procured a second supply of the nec- 
essary materials, and when the ships were finished, 
sent them to sea, under Christopher de Olid, whom 
he ordered to search for the strait which had been so 
long and anxiously hoped for. 

Of course, as the strait did not exist, it was not dis- 
covered ; but in 1527, three years afterthe first ships 
had been sent, Cortez, by command of Charles V. of 
Spain, dispatched the ships he had at Zacatula in 
search of the Trinity, one of Magellan's ships, and 
those of Loaysa and Cabot (navigators that had 
sailed from England and Spain) ; they were also to 
seek for the passage from the Atlantic to the Pacific 
Ocean, which he had confidently assured his sover- 
eign was in existence. 



30 HISTORY OF CALIFORNIA. 

The year after this expedition sailed, Cortez went 
to Spain, where he was received with great honor. 
Many titles and privileges were also conferred upon 
him, together with a promise that he should possess a 
twelfth part of all lands he might discover. This 
was a great inducement to Cortez to return to Mexico 
and explore more fully the Pacific Ocean. He how- 
ever was bound by a contract with the Empress of 
Spain, who was then Regent (that is, ruler in the 
King's place), to prosecute all his discoveries at his 
own expense. He returned to Mexico, and ordered 
the building of two ships at Acapulco, a town on the 
southwestern coast of Mexico, which is situated on a 
beautiful bay, and affords a safe and pleasant harbor. 

These ships were put under the command of his 
near relative, Diego Hurtado de Mendoza, and they 
left port in May, 1532. This expedition proved very 
unfortunate. The crew of one of the ships mutinied, 
and encountering heavy gales had much difficulty in 
reaching Jalisco. The other ship, in which Hurtado 
himself sailed, was never heard of again. 

Afterwards, Cortez ordered two ships to be built at 
Tehuantepec, which is situated on the bay of the 
same name, and lies much farther to the southeast 
than any other town that has been mentioned. These 



HISTORY OF CALIFORNIA. 31 

set sail, and encountering one of the storms that fre- 
quently prevail in the gulf of Tehuantepec, were 
separated on the very first night and never met again. 
By one of these, however, the first discovery of Cali- 
fornia was made. The captain, Hernando Grljalva, 
after sailing three hundred leagues, reached a desert 
island which he called Santa Thome, and which is 
believed to be one of a group that lies at the point of 
Lower California. 

He then turned back ; but the ship of which Diego 
Becerra de Mendoza was captain, went farther, and 
sailing up the Gulf of California, discovered the 
peninsula that lies between that body of water and the 
Pacific Ocean, and entered a small bay, which Cortez 
afterwards called Santa Cruz, and which is believed 
to have been the same that is now known by the 
name of La Paz. Before reaching there, however. 
Captain Becerra, by his overbearing demeanor, had 
excited the anger of his crew, and headed by Fortu- 
nus Zimenez, his pilot, they murdered him while he 
slept. For this wicked act they met a swift and just 
punishment upon their arrival at Santa Cruz ; for 
there, enraged by their actions, the Indians set 
upon them, and killed the pilot and twenty other 
Spaniards. 

This disaster, however, did not deter the Spaniards 



32 HISTORY OF CALIFORNIA. 

from endeavoring to penetrate a country which they 
were assured by the sailors that survived was stored 
with treasure, and the coasts of which were paved 
with beds of pearh 

Many attempts were made to reach and survey the 
country ; the most famous being that of Cortez, who 
fitted out and dispatched three ships which he had 
launched at Teliuantepec, while he himself proceeded 
west by land to Chiametla. 

Thence he set sail, with a large number of people 
who had joined him, and steering up the Gulf of 
California, which was then called the Sea of Cortez, 
or the Vermilion Sea, landed on the 1st of May, 
1526, at the place where Zimenez and others of the 
mutineers had been killed by the Indians. There the 
navigators endured many hardships, being for some 
time in danger of starvation. It is from the records 
kept by these men during their famous cruise that 
we obtain our first knowledge of California ; and 
although that portion of the peninsula is of little in- 
terest to us at present, as all settlements have been 
made in the upper part, still from it we gain our first 
ideas of the country and its people, and there the 
History of California must commence, in order 
that we may have a clear idea by what means the 
*' Golden State " was discovered and settled. 



HISTORY OP CALIFORNIA. 



CHAPTER 11. 

The Sufferings of Cortez and his Followers. — Exploration of the 
Coast of the Gulf of California. — Alvar Nuilez Caheza and his 
Companions.— Heports of Treasures at the South.— Expeditions 
of the Viceroy of Mexico.— Chagrin of Cortez. — His Death.— 
Voyage of Cabrillo 

Not long after Cortez had effected a landing on the 
shores of the Bay of Santa Cruz, he sent back all his 
ships to Mexico to bring him provisions, and also the 
people that had not sailed with him, either deterred 
by their own fears or his opposition, but whom he 
then thought would be of great service to him in form- 
ing a settlement upon the newly discovered land. 

It certainly was not a very promising place for any 
such attempt to be made, for the first article with the 
Spaniards — gold — was nowhere to be seen, the soil 
was arid and non-productive, and its owners — the 
Indians — were treacherous and unfriendly. 

But after the ships sailed for Mexico, Cortez and 
his followers were obliged to remain in their unen- 
viable position, whether they wished it or not; and 
very great must have been their disappointment when 



M HISTORY OF CALIFORNIA. 

only one ship returned to them, all the rest having 
been stranded on the coast of Mexico. As Cortez 
had no stores, he was obliged to go in search of his 
ships, and crossing the Gulf of California, found them, 
and taking the provisions they contained, returned to 
the Bay of Santa Cruz, where he found that all the 
people had suffered much from the want of food, and 
that some had died. He enjoined them to be very 
careful in using the food he had brought ; but they 
were so rejoiced to obtain it, that instead of taking a 
little, merely to satisfy their hunger, many of them 
ate to excess, and died in consequence. 

Cortez and his followers staid at Santa Cruz for 
several months, endeavoring to make a settlement 
there. The people of Mexico had given him up as 
dead ; but the Viceroy sent out two ships to search 
for him, with instructions to him to return to Mexico. 
A third was sent by his wife ; and Cortez was very 
glad to find that he was so much needed elsewhere, 
that he could with credit abandon an enterprise that 
had proved so disastrous, and which promised to yield 
neither profit nor fame. 

Accordingly, he hastened to obey the mandate of 
the Viceroy, leaving his colony under the charge of 
Francisco de Ulloa. It was not long, however, before 



HISTORY OF CALIFORNIA. 35 

he discovered that it was impossible for them to re- 
main in so poor a country, and they all set sail for 
Mexico. Thus ended the first attempt to colonize the 
peninsula of California. 

With the great energy that distinguished him 
throughout the whole of his eventful life, and with 
the hope that he should find a country as rich as 
Mexico, Cortez, in the same year (1537), sent three 
other ships, under the command of Francisco de Ulloa, 
to explore the coast lying upon the Gulf of California. 
These ships were absent a year, and then returned to 
Mexico without having made any important discover- 
ies. At the head of the Gulf of California they had 
found a wild, mountainous country, almost bare of 
vegetation, and affording subsistence only to a few 
large sheep with crooked horns. The inhabitants 
seemed chiefly to have drawn their living from the 
sea. They were quite naked, wearing nothing but 
ornaments of shining shells. They made fishing- 
hooks of wood or fish bones, and vessels of clay, 
though they chiefly used the maws of sea-wolves for 
domestic purposes. There were a great many whales 
in the northern part of the gulf, and it must have 
been a strange sight to those aboard the ships, as they 
glided at night along the inhospitable shore, lighted 



36 HISTORY OP CALIFORNIA. 

perhaps on their way by the glare of volcanic fires, to 
see the monsters of the deep sporting near, and toss- 
ing the water into the air until it fell like foam around 
the quivering ships. 

It is probable that Cortez would not have attempted 
to make any further discoveries on the eastern coast 
of California, had not Alvar Nunez Cabeza de Vaca 
and his three companions, Castillo, Dorantes, and a 
negro named Estivanico, arrived in Mexico with 
glowing accounts of the coasts toward the south, which 
they said abounded in gold, pearls, and other treasures. 

In 1527, ten years before, they had landed with 
three hundred others, under the command of Pamsilo 
de Narvaez, in the country of' Florida, which had 
been discovered by Ponce de Leon, a Governor of 
the West Indies, several years before. Within this 
country was supposed to be an immense palace, with 
walls of marble and pillars of pure gold, within which 
was a fountain whose waters had the power of restor- 
ing the aged to youth. This, De Leon sought but 
never found ; but the country was so beautiful that 
three hundred Spaniards banded together to attempt 
its conquest. They were unsuccessful, and all but 
four men were killed by the natives or by disease. 
These four wandered for ten years among the Indians, 



HISTORY OF CALIFORNIA. 37 

going from country to country, and enduring the 
greatest hardships. They insured their safety by pre- 
tending to work miracles ; they cured the sick, and 
even said that they could raise the dead. When they 
arrived in Mexico they were naked, and so altered 
that they were taken for Indians until they spoke, 
when they were recognized as Spaniards and properly 
cared for. The tales they told of the vast riches of 
the countries through which they had passed were 
scarcely credited, until the following year (1538), 
when they were confirmed by Marcos de Niza, a 
a Franciscan friar, who was the Governor of the 
province of Santo Evangelio, which was in the west- 
ern part of Mexico. He heard that a brother of his 
order had traveled over two hundred leagues to the 
northward, and passed through countries well peopled 
with intelligent races, who had told him of countries 
beyond, where there were many large cities, and 
where the people wore clothes and were skilled ir 
many arts. The soil, they stated, was very rich, pro- 
ducing many fruits, and a sufficient quantity of grain 
to feed vast herds of cattle, while the mountains were 
full of rich metals and gems. 

Allured by this description of the wealth of the 
country, and filled with a desire to preach the truth 



38 HISTORY OF CALIFORNIA. 

to the poor Indians, the Franciscan set out to visit the 
place described, and returned after an absence of sev- 
eral months, with still more wonderful accounts of the 
unknown lands, which he had gleaned from the people 
he had seen, and not from actual observation. 

That fact, however, was not heeded. His words 
created the greatest excitement throughout New Spain. 
Nothing else was thought or talked of. There were 
many Spaniards in the City of Mexico who had just 
arrived, and these were overjoyed at the hope of con- 
quering a country more wealthy, if possible, than that 
which had rendered Cortez so famous. But that great 
man himself was not long inactive, and immediately 
determined to attempt the conquest of this country, 
both by sea and land. 

The Viceroy of Mexico, Don Antonio de Mendoza, 
wished to do the same. But although these two men 
had the same object in view, they could not agree upon 
the means to be employed in obtaining it, each fearing 
that the designs of the other would detract from his 
own fame. The Viceroy at first took command of the 
land forces in person, Cortez remaining behind, pro- 
testing that his rights were being wrested from him, 
as it was impossible for him to fulfill the contract he 
had made with the Queen of Spain some years before, 



HISTORY OF CALIFORNIA. 39 

unless he was allowed to undertake the first expedi- 
tions of discovery. The command of the army was 
eventually given to Francisco Vasquez Coronado, who 
marched from the City of Mexico at the head of a 
thousand picked men, with the Franciscan as guide. 

As the expedition had nothing to do with the dis- 
covery of California or any settlements that were made 
there, it is unnecessary to proceed farther than to 
mention that the adventurers indeed found cities, 
though much smaller than they had hoped for, and 
but very little wealth, so that they returned in great 
disappointment to Mexico. Meanwhile, the fleet which 
had been sent to the coast of California to meet them 
waited in vain for their coming ; and after a long time 
the commander, Francisco Alarcon, set up several 
crosses, to denote that Christians had been upon the 
land, planted at the foot of them bottles containing 
records of the cruise, and then returned to Mexico. 

Thus ended the famous expedition of the Viceroy 
Mendoza ; and it seemed, indeed, as if California was 
never to be surveyed and settled ; for Pedro de Alva- 
rado, who was Governor of Guatemala, which lies 
between Mexico and Costa Rica, had been for some 
time engaged with the Viceroy de Mendoza in a 
scheme to survey the western coast of California, and 



40 HISTORY OF CALIFORNIA. 

discover a route to the East Indies, and had built 
twelve large vessels for the purpose. No success fol- 
lowed his undertakings. He, on the contrary, gained 
the enmity of many Spaniards for his conduct towards 
Cortez, whose fortunes he had followed from the be- 
ginning, and whose interests he basely betrayed. 

In 1547 Cortez died, after having waited for seven 
years about the court of Spain, endeavoring in vain 
to obtain a hearino^ from his sovereio^n. Thus he 
found that his unfortunate expeditions by sea had 
obliterated all remembrance of his services on land, 
which had gained to the King of Spain, as he bitterly 
said, "more provinces than his father had towns." 

After his departure from Mexico, Pedro Alvarado 
prosecuted his schemes with far more ardor than be- 
fore ; but just as his fleet was ready to sail, he was 
killed in an encounter with the Indians of his own 
province, and his ships rotted in the harbors, instead 
of making those grand discoveries which their builder 
had hoped would render his name famous. 

The Viceroy de Mendoza was greatly distressed at 
the failure of both enterprises in which he had en- 
gaged ; but, animated by ambition which seemed to 
be an all-pervading passion with the Spaniards of that 
day, he went upon a dangerous enterprise himself, to 



HISTORY OF CALIFORNIA. 41 

subdue the Indians, whom the death of Alvarado had 
encouraged in their revolt. He gave to Juan Rodri- 
guez Cabrillo, a Portuguese navigator, the command 
of some of Alvarado's ships, which were in a moderate 
state of preservation, and sent him to explore the 
western shores of California. It must be remembered 
that they had not been visited by any navigators ; all 
who had gone before having confined themselves to 
the gulf on the east. 

Cabrillo sailed from the port de Navidad, which is 
on the southwestern coast of Mexico, a short distance 
south of Manzanillo, on the 27th of June, 1542. He 
touched first at the bay of Santa Cruz ; then, instead 
of following the eastern coast, as others had done, he 
hurried to the west, and soon gained a bay, which he 
called La Magdalena, and soon after a point which he 
named Cape del Engauo (Deceit). He also named 
others that he encountered, but the only one of note is 
Cape Mendocino. He saw this cape lying between 
high mountains covered with snow, and named it in 
honor of the Viceroy of Spain. It lies about three 
hundred miles north of San Francisco; but Cabrillo 
even went farther, discovering the Bay of Pines 
(which he named from the trees growing near It), and 
also the Cape de Fortuna (the Cape of Fortune). 



42 HISTORY OF CALIFORNIA. 

At that point he was obliged to turn back ; for the 
cold seemed very intense to his crew, who had been 
used to the hot sun of Mexico ; and besides, he was 
falling short of provisions. He had, however, accom- 
plished more than any navigator that had sailed upon 
the Pacific Ocean, and had discovered the existence 
of the upper portion of the land called California, and 
which is now the State that bears that world-renowned 
name. 



HISTORY OF CALIFORNIA. 43 



CHAPTER HI. 

California neglected by the Spaniards.— Sir Francis Drake's first 
View of the South Sea. — His Visit to California. 

You will be surprised to learn that upon the return 
of Cabrillo to Mexico, or of his pilot, Bartolomeo 
Ferrelo (for some say Cabrillo never made the long 
voyage that has been described, but died on the way), 
no immediate steps were taken to settle the vast 
country that had been discovered. But at that time 
the Spaniards were too much engrossed by the ac- 
cumulation of riches in Peru and other parts of South 
America to trouble themselves much about a land from 
which neither gold nor gems had been brought, and 
the chief features of which seemed to be barren or 
snow-clad mountains, and forests of dark pines. 

The Viceroy de Mendoza might have made some, 
attempt to explore the newly found land, had he not 
been removed from Mexico to Peru ; and he was suc- 
ceeded by men who seemed to think but little or 
nothing of California, till as late as the year 1557 or 
1558, when the daring deeds of English navigators 
upon its shores recalled it to mind. At that time there 



44 HISTORY OF CALIFORNIA. 

was but little good feeling between England and 
Spain, and British privateers were constantly on the 
watch to harass and destroy all Spanish vessels. The 
most important of these was the galleon that yearly 
sailed from the East Indies, down the western coast of 
South America, at the extremity of which she sailed 
through the Straits of Magellan, and continued in a 
northeasterly direction to Spain. These Straits of 
Magellan had been discovered by the navigator by 
whose name they were called, in 1520, about the time 
that Cortez was so eagerly seeking for a passage at 
the extremity of North America. Such a passage 
would have saved the galleon thousands of miles in her 
voyage, and also attacks from enemies lurking along 
her way. The most determined of these privateers 
was Captain, afterwards Sir Francis, Drake, a distin- 
guished navigator, who was the first Englishman to 
sail around the world. This famous man, during the 
reigns of Edward IV. of England and his sister Mary, 
made several voyages to the New World, and was 
treated so harshly by the Spaniards that he was most 
anxious to avenge himself ; and as soon as his govern- 
ment became involved in unfriendly disputes with 
Spain, he eagerly sought every opportunity to injure 
the commerce of the latter. In 1572 he landed on the 



HISTORY OF CALIFORNIA. 45 

eastern shore of Panama, and captured a large amount 
of treasure which had been brought from the East 
Indies and stored to await transportation to Spain. 
While there, one of the natives took Drake to a high 
tree, from the top of which, he told him, he could see 
a great body of water. Drake climbed it ; and to his 
delight beheld the Pacific Ocean, and solemnly " be- 
sought God to give him health and life once to sail an 
English ship through those seas." His prayer was 
granted. Five years later, having with the aid of 
some friends fitted out an expedition, he sailed down 
the eastern coast of South America, and passing 
through the Straits of Magellan, continued his course 
up the western coast, capturing vessels as he went, and 
destroying the settlements which the Spaniards had 
made upon the shore. 

He spread terror and consternation throughout the 
Spanish provinces ; but having at last as much treas- 
ure as his ships could carry, he determined to return 
home. But he was afraid to do so by the Straits of 
Magellan, as he thought it very probable some Spanish 
ships might be lurking there to intercept him. He 
therefore proceeded westward, hoping to gain England 
by sailing around the Cape of Good Hope, which lies 
at the southern extremity of Africa. It was then au- 



46 HISTORY OF CALIFORNIA. 

tumn, and he met with such contrary winds that he 
was obliged to steer northward. This he did, until 
the intense cold, or what seemed to his crew intense, 
forced him to turn to the south. He then sailed back 
from the coasts of Oregon to those of California, the 
white cliffs of which reminded him so much of home 
that he called it New Albion, that having once been 
the name of England. 

Sir Francis Drake was very anxious to discover a 
bay in which he could anchor for the winter, and 
where he would be safe from the vigilance of the 
Spaniards. He found what he desired a short dis- 
tance north of San Francisco, and wintered in the 
bay which still bears his name. 

When he went ashore, accompanied by some of his 
men, he found a number of huts by the water-side. 
Upon entering them, they found the natives lying 
upon beds made of rushes, around fires which were 
built upon the ground in the center of each hut. The 
men were quite naked, but the women wore a deer 
skin over their shoulders, and a short skirt of cloth 
which was woven from tules and grass. These sim- 
ple-minded people seemed to regard Drake and his fol- 
lowers as superior beings. They gathered upon a hill 
and began haranguing him — having first sent him 



HISTORY OF CALIFORNIA. 47 

presents of network, feathers, and tobacco — and then 
to shout and dance, to howl and tear their hair. Fear- 
ing that they were about to offer sacrifices to him, 
and in order to prove to them that he was no god, but 
mortal like themselves, he ordered divine services to 
be held before them. Whether this had the effect 
that Sir Francis Drake intended, or not, is doubtful ; 
but by some means the Indians were made to under- 
stand that the strangers were from a country much 
more powerful than their own, and this " being 
known through the country, two persons in the charac- 
ter of ambassadors came to the admiral (Drake), and 
informed him, in the best manner they were able, that 
the king would visit him." Drake assured them that 
he might do so in perfect safety ; and then a most en- 
tertaining scene began. The people formed a proces- 
sion, with a person at their head carrying a kind of 
scepter, from which hung two crowns and three chains 
of great length. The chains were of bones, and the 
crowns of network curiously wrought with feathers of 
many colors. The king^ — who was described as a 
very handsome, majestic person — came next, with a 
number of tall men dressed in skins ; these were fol- 
lowed by the common people, who were most hide- 
ously painted, and carried in their hands presents for 



48 HISTORY OF CALIFORNIA. 

their visitors. When all had arrived at the admiral's 
tent, the men stood before it in line of battle, and the 
scepter-bearer made a long speech, to which Sir Fran- 
cis Drake replied ; then they all began to sing and 
dance, and went nearer the tent. At last the king 
sat down, and taking off his crown, put it on the head 
of Drake, and putting off all the insignia of royalty, 
made to him what the admiral supposed to be a solemn 
tender of his whole kingdom. Drake accepted it, 
and afterwards went into the interior of the country 
to see the value of the acquisition he had made. 

Perhaps he was disappointed at not finding another 
Florida or Peru ; for although he discovered traces of 
gold in the soil, he did not find it lying in lumps upon 
the surface of the earth, neither did he see springing 
therefrom beautiful flowers, or trees bearing luscious 
fruit. They found instead a mountainous country, 
with few streams, and consequently no luxuriant 
herbage. Upon the mountains they saw large herds 
of deer, and rabbits were so plentiful that the country 
appeared an "entire warren." 

After staying about a month in the beautiful bay 
he had discovered, Sir Francis Drake set sail for Eng- 
land, having first set upon the shore a pillar with a 
large plate on it, on which was engraved the name of 



HISTORY OF CALIFORNIA. 49 

Elizabeth, Queen of England, her " picture, arms, and 
title to the country, together with the admiral's name, 
and the date of his arrival there." This was to let all 
future adventurers know that the land w^as the prop- 
erty of the crown of England. The Spaniards, how- 
ever, were not willing to acknowledge that, and as 
soon as they knew of the discoveries of Drake and 
other voyagers, threw off their apathy, and pre- 
pared with eagerness to survey and colonize the coast 
that offered so many safe harbors, from which their 
enemies might sally out, destroy their ships, and cap- 
ture their treasure. 



50 HISTORY OF CALIFORNIA. 



CHAPTER lY. 

The Commerce of Spain harassed by Privateers.— Expedition of 
Viscaino.— The Settlement at the Bay of La Paz.— Removal 
North and a Fight with the Indian.— The Poverty of Lower 
California. 

Though many discoveries had been made up to 
this period by both Spanish and English navigators 
in Lower and Upper California, none had thrown 
much light upon the disputed point whether this tract 
of land was an island or a peninsula. 

Little indeed was then known of the geography of 
North America. In drawing a map of the world, our 
forefathers left no room for British America, but sup- 
posed that by sailing through Behring Straits (or, 
as they were called, the Straits of Anian), which they 
knew lay at the northeastern point of Asia, they 
would immediately reach the Atlantic Ocean, where- 
as, they would have found themselves in the Arctic 
Sea, more than two thousand miles from the desired 
point. 

During the reign of Phillip II. of Spain it became a 
matter of great importance that this question should 



HISTORY OF CALIFORNIA. 51 

be decided, and that it should be positively known 
whether vessels could reach the Indies by sailing due 
west from Spain at the head of North America, 
passing through Behring Straits into the Pacific 
Ocean, as well as by taking the long and dangerous 
route around South America, on the western coast of 
which the English and Dutch had made many settle- 
ments, whence they sallied out to harass the com- 
merce of the Spaniards. 

From 1587, when the noted English privateer. Cap- 
tain Thomas Cavendish, touched at Cape St. Lucas, 
and lay in wait in a fine bay at that point for the 
richly laden Spanish vessels that sailed by, the coast 
of California was an especial terror to them. And 
after striving in every other way to abate ttie evil, 
and losing in many unsuccessful engagements the 
naval prestige that had once been hers, Spain decided 
to seek some other passage for her galleons ; and in 
1596 Phillip II. transmitted orders to Don Gaspar de 
Zuniga, Count of Monterey, who was Viceroy of Mex- 
ico, to send ships to explore Behring Straits, and also 
to endeavor to make settlements upon the coast of 
California, to which the galleons might go for refuge 
from enemies, or to take in water or fresh provisions, 
from the want of which the crews often suffered on 
the long voyage from the Philippine Islands. 



52 HISTORY OF CALIFORNIA. 

This was an expedition of great importance ; and 
only a man of unusual courage and prudence could 
hope to carry it to a successful termination. Sebas- 
tian Viscaino, the man chosen to conduct it, was well 
qualified in every respect. He was a fearless soldier, 
yet possessed of a disposition of great affability and 
mildness — thus beins; well calculated to fill the hearts 
of the inhabitants of the country both with love and 
awe. His knowledge was not confined to military 
affairs ; he was an excellent seaman, and took charge 
of the four ships with which he sailed — thereby, per- 
haps, taking upon himself more responsibility than 
had any of his predecessors. 

From Acapulco, the place of departure, he steered 
northwest to the islands of Mazatlan and San Sebas- 
tian, where he supplied his ships with water, and then 
crossed the gulf, which he found to be about two 
hundred and forty miles in width. He landed on the 
eastern coast of California ; but although the Indians 
flocked to the shore in great numbers, presenting an 
ample school to the four Franciscan priests that had 
come to teach them of God and his mercies, Viscaino 
decided not to attempt a settlement there, but to seek 
a parish for the priests where the land was capable of 
sustaining them ; believing that no virtue could flour- 



HISTORY OF CALIFOKNIA. 53 

ish where only barren rocks and stunted shrubs were 
to be seen. 

Sailing thence, they proceeded to another harbor, 
Avhich they called San Sebastian. At this point the 
soil was barren, and there was but little fresh water ; 
so no settlement could be made. General Viscaino, 
however, enacted the ceremony of raising the royal 
standard, and again taking possession of the land in 
the name of his sovereign. He also from that point 
sent some of his soldiers into the interior of the coun- 
try, to see if it gave signs of greater prosperity than 
did the sea-shore. Nothing of any value was dis- 
covered ; the inhabitants seemed poor and peaceable 
people, and their appearance offered no inducements 
to the adventurers to stay among them. It is true 
that they brought them a few pearls ; but there ex- 
isted rumors that these gems were to be found in 
large quantities farther up the coast ; and thither, 
after a stay of eight days, Viscaino and his followers 
proceeded. 

In the Bay of La Paz (so called because of the 
peaceful disposition of the Indians), they finally es- 
tablished themselves. Their first act was to establish 
a o'arrison for the soldiers within a hio;h fence, so that 
it could not be approached by the natives ; and next 



54 HISTORY OF CALIFORNIA. 

they built a church and some rude huts of the 
branches of trees. 

The Indians, doubtless, looked on with much quiet 
surprise and admiration at all these preparations ; 
and when the priests, wishing to gain their affec- 
tion, distributed many small presents among them, 
they believed them superior beings, and looked upon 
them as endowed with more than human kindness and 
wisdom. They very readily obeyed their wishes, and 
attended mass and other divine services, the ceremo- 
nies of which impressed them with the greatest awe 
and delight. 

For the soldiers, however, they entertained no de- 
gree of the affection they so liberally showed towards 
the priests. They feared and hated them, because, 
instead of giving them presents, they took away all 
the little wealth they originally possessed, especially 
their pearls, which they greatly treasured, and which 
all wore as ornaments. Indeed, one of their most 
solemn rites was the endowment of children with 
these gems. At a certain time of the year, all those 
who were not already ornamented were taken to the 
sorcerers — men who pretended to cure the sick and 
avert all evils ; and by them their ears and nostrils 
were bored, strings of shells and pearls being hung 



HISTORY OF CALIFORNIA. 55 

from one to the other. This was a truly barbaro\is 
rite, and elicited the most awful shrieks from the poor 
little victims. But their parents thought it quite 
right and necessary that they should thus be tortured, 
and stood around them drowning their cries by shout- 
ing as loudly as possible and making all kinds of 
noises. 

It is not strange that, after having suffered so much 
in being invested with these uncouth adornments, 
these poor Indians prized them greatly, and also the 
pearls of which they were composed, and that they 
accordingly thought the soldiers who robbed them 
most cruel and wicked. 

However, the Indians at La Paz made no alarming 
demonstrations of their displeasure ; but when Vis- 
caino, finding that the garrison could not be support- 
ed at that point, removed it thence farther north, they 
found a tribe that would not so quietly endure their 
aggressions, or even their presence. 

At the first place they landed, they were indeed 
received quietly enough, although the Indians were 
drawn up upon the shore in battle array ; but when 
they attempted to depart, either because they had 
committed some outrages or from an unknown cause, 
the Indians conuiienced to shoot their arrows upon 
them. 



5Q HISTORY OF CALIFORNIA. 

Unfortunately, the Spaniards, of whom there were 
about fifty, forgot all prudence, and returned the fire, 
killinor three or four and woundinoj several. The re- 
mainder fled ; and the Spaniards, imagining they had 
quelled them, prepared to return to their ships. The 
boat in which they had gained the shore would only 
carry twenty-five men ; consequently that number em- 
barked, leaving their comrades behind. Tiiose that 
were left had no idea that the Indians were near them, 
and when the boat returned, hastened to the water's 
edge, anxious to leave the shore where they had been 
so inhospitably received. In the confusion, they did 
not notice the Indians spring from their ambush, and 
knew nothing of their presence until a shower of ar- 
rows fell upon them. Then ensued a scene of the 
o:reatest confusion, in the midst of which the boat was 
overset, and thus nineteen unfortunate men were 
drowned or killed by the Indians. Only six of the 
boat's freight returned to the ship to tell the frightful 
tale ; and these only gained their safety by swimming, 
and happily eluding the arrows and other missiles of 
their enemies. 

Much distressed at this unfortunate occurrence, the 
survivors decided to return to the place where the set- 
tlement had been made, and where General Viscaino 



HISTORY OF CALIFORNIA. 57 

was waiting, ho])iiig to gain from them cheering re- 
ports of the country they had visited. 

He must have been greatly disappointed when they 
told him of the fierceness of the Indians and the pov- 
erty of the country from which they had been unable 
to gather any means of subsistence. The General 
himself had nothing to offer them, having indeed 
barely corn enough left to last till they could reach 
the coast of Mexico. So, in despair of making a set- 
tlement upon such a barren shore, he left it once more 
to the buccaneers, who alone seemed able to find 
within it any place of refuge or defense. 



58 HISTORY OF CALIFORNIA. 



CHAPTER V. 

Second Expedition of Viscaino.— Discovery of the Port of Mon- 
terey.— Death of Viscaino.— Expedition in Search of Pearls.- - 
Attempt of Otondo to found a Colony.— Hostility of the Indians 
and Cowardice of the Spaniards.— Settlement at San Bruno.— 
Missions established.— The Religion of the Indians.— Their 
Treatment by the Missionaries.— An Insurrection. 

But, although no doubt Viscaino and his followers 
were greatly disgusted with the barren land that 
yielded them nothing but privations and discomforts, 
their sovereign. King Phillip HI. — who succeeded his 
father, King Phillip II., in 1589 — determined not to 
give up the land and the sea upon which it bordered, 
without a struggle. Consequently he sent orders to 
the Count de Monterey to send out another expedi- 
tion to attempt a settlement upon the peninsula. 

It often happened at that time that the galleons on 
their passage from the Philippine Isles encountered 
heavy gales off Cape Mendocino, and ran short of 
water and of fresh provisions, from the want of which 
the crews were frequently afflicted with scurvy, a 
most painful disease. From these causes it was nee- 



HISTORY OF CALIFORNIA. 59 

essary that sojme settlement should be made near the 
cape, where vessels might put in for supplies, and find 
a refuge from storms. 

General Viscaino, who had conducted the first ex- 
pedition with such prudence and skill, was chosen to 
command the second ; and on the 5th of May, 1602, 
he sailed from the harbor of Acapulco with two ships 
— a frigate, and also a smaller vessel with which to 
ascend creeks and cruise in shallow waters. 

These vessels encountered contrary winds, and their 
crews were subjected to many hardships. They 
however persevered ; and gallantly combating all 
diflficulties, ascended the coast as far as Cape Mendo- 
cino, taking accurate surveys as they proceeded. 
Near the Cape of Pines, General Viscaino saw a large 
harbor, which he fancied would be suitable for the 
reception of the galleons and other ships ; and in 
honor of the Viceroy of Mexico, named it the Port 
of Monterey. At present there is a city there bear- 
ing the same name. It is situated about seventy 
miles south of San Francisco. 

This settlement, however, was not made for some 
time after General Viscaino first visited the bay ; for 
the crews of his ships were attacked with scurvy, 
from the effects of which many died, and the sur- 



60 HISTORY of" CALIFORNIA. 

vivors were rendered unfit to attempt the labor of 
founding a colony, even in so desirable a spot, where 
the earth teemed with grains and fruits, and vast 
numbers of animals roamed through the woods and 
over the fields of luxuriant grass. 

General Viscaino returned to Mexico, delighted 
with the country he had visited, and immediately 
went to Spain to ask permission of the king to at- 
tempt a settlement at Monterey at his own expense. 
This favor, however, was denied him ; and he re- 
turned to Mexico, where he lived in obscurity until 
the year 1606, when, by command of the king, he 
was sought for, and put in command of some vessels, 
which were to sail immediately for the Port of Mon- 
terey. 

Unfortunately, when everything was in readiness, 
and Viscaino was elated with joy at the prospect of 
making a settlement upon the beautiful bay he had 
discovered and named, his plans and those of his 
king were thwarted by a fatal illness. Early in 
1607, General Viscaino died, and the attempt to col- 
onize California was again abandoned. 

Occasionally small vessels crossed the gulf in 
search of pearls ; but; no settlements were attempted, 
and the commerce of the Spanish suffered as much as 



HISTORY OF CALIFORNIA. 61 

ever from the depredations of the English and Dutch. 
These soon became masters of the seas, and totally- 
prevented any efforts from being made to occupy the 
coasts they so effectually guarded. Still, the Span- 
iards looked upon them with longing eyes, and the 
sight of some pearls that were brought thence excited 
their cupidity, and induced a number of private per- 
sons in Mexico to attempt a conquest which the emis- 
saries of their government had repeatedly failed to 
make. 

These persons were as unsuccessful as their prede- 
cessors. It is true, they sometimes succeeded in col- 
lecting a quantity of pearls, either by fishing for them 
or trading with the Indians ; and they learned many 
curious things regarding the country and its inhabi- 
tants ; but they made no discoveries of valuable lands, 
nor even settled the important question which had 
agitated the public mind for so many years — the ques- 
tion whether California was an island or a peninsula. 

The expeditions which sailed under the auspices of 
the government accomplished no more than those 
under private persons ; and, indeed, seemed to have 
the same object in view — the acquisition of wealth 
rather than the settlement of the country. 

It is true, a few missionaries entered with the more 



62 HISTORY OF CALIFORNIA. 

laudable hope of converting the Indians to Christian- 
ity ; but their efforts were frustrated by adventurers, 
who behaved most cruelly, plundering the defenseless 
people of their valuables, and abusing and insulting 
them in every manner. This conduct brought its own 
punishment ; for the Spaniards became so greedy of 
the treasures they so unjustly obtained that they 
often quarreled concerning the division of them ; and 
on one occasion, during an expedition made in 1664, 
they carried their distrust and anger so far that a bat- 
tle among themselves ensued, in which several were 
killed and wounded. 

About nineteen years after this, in 1683, King 
Charles II. of Spain decided to attempt the work his 
predecessors had prosecuted so unsuccessfully ; and 
accordingly, in May of that year, Admiral Don Ifredo. 
Otondo, by his orders, set sail from Chacala; for the 
Bay of La Paz, with instructions to found a colony 
there. 

He took with him one hundred men and a large 
quantity of provisions and all kinds of stores. Three 
priests — Father Kino, Juan Baptista Coj^art, and 
Pedro Matthias Goni — accompanied this expedition ; 
the first having control of all affairs relating to the 
conversion of the Indians. 



HISTORY OF CALIFORNIA. C3 

These had been so insulted iind annoyed by numer- 
ous small parties that had come from Mexico to seek 
pearls, that they suffered the ships to lie in the har- 
bor for five days without making their appearance. 
When, however, the Spaniards began to land, they 
rushed down to the shore in great numbers, armed 
with bows and arrows, and most hideously painted, 
making theatening gestures, and endeavoring in every 
way to terrify their unwelcome visitors. 

The missionaries at that time exhibited true cour- 
age ; for, leaving the soldiers, they went alone toward 
the Indians, offering them presents, and assuring them 
by signs that they wished to do them no evil, but 
good. 

After a little time the Indians believed them, and 
allowed all the ships' companies to land, and to erect 
upon the shore huts and a church for divine worship. 
Meanwhile, the natives watched them closely, and 
would often grow tired of them and order them away ; 
but the admiral, Otondo, took but little notice of 
that, and sent parties into the interior of the country 
to make surveys, and bring him reports of the prod- 
ucts and inhabitants of the land. 

The first they found of two dispositions : one war- 
like and treacherous, the other mild and inoffensive. 



64 HISTORY OF CALIFORNIA. 

They were of two tribes, and were enemies to each 
other ; but the Guaycuros endeavored to enlist the 
Coras in the cause against the Spaniards ; and on one 
occasion advanced in force upon the intrenchments at 
La Paz. With admirable presence of mind, Otondo 
restrained his soldiers from firing uj)on them ; and 
going out to them alone, by a timely exhibition of 
anger and courage, prevailed upon them to return to 
their homes. 

But, unfortunately, he did not always show the 
same coolness and foresight as upon this occasion ; for 
shortly afterward, a mulatto boy being missed from 
the camp, it was supposed he had been killed by the 
Guaycuros ; and Otondo ordered their chief to be im- 
prisoned until the truth could be discovered. The 
Guaycuros were justly indignant at this, and accord- 
ingly fell upon the garrison in great fury : and al- 
though the soldiers had received timely notice of their 
intention from the Coras, they were filled with such 
terror when they saw them advancing that they 
could do nothing but groan and cry ; and General 
Otondo learned to his sorrow and dismay that he had 
with him a band of cowards, totally unlike those 
brave men that had conquered Mexico under Cortez, 
or had marched into South America with Pizarro. 



HISTORY OF CALIFORNIA. 65 

True, they fired a few guns, and easily dispersed 
tlie insurgents ; but they refused to stay any longer 
at La Paz ; and the admiral was obliged to go back 
to Mexico for provisions, and attempt a settlement 
elsewhere. 

In the harbor of San Bruno, on the southeastern 
coast of California, he next landed ; and finding the 
Indians peaceable, made a settlement there. But 
nothing of importance was done, except by Father 
Kino and his brother priests, who made themselves 
acquainted with the language, manners, and customs 
of the Indians, and did all in their power to convert 
them to Christianity ; but it was not until this settle- 
ment, like the many that preceded it, had been brok- 
en up because of the poorness of the country, and the 
Government of Spain had given up the country en- 
tirely to Father Kino and his brother missionaries, 
that any attempt to colonize California was successful. 

The reason of this was, that the soldiers and adven- 
turers had usually treated the Indians with such 
cruelty that they feared and hated them ; and because 
they had also sought through the country for gold 
and gems, which it was incapable of producing, in. 
stead of toiling patiently to improve their fortunes 
and the barren land together. 



66 HISTORY OF CALIFORNIA. 

After all the unsuccessful attempts that we have 
noticed, the court of Spain decided that the Indians 
of California were far too intractable and the soil too 
poor to be reduced by the usual means. They there- 
fore offered the work to the Society of Jesuits, offer- 
ing to assist them with a sum of money, to be paid 
yearly. After considering the matter for some time, 
the Order accepted the trust ; and immediate prepa- 
rations were made for founding a mission. 

Four distinguished priests engaged most earnestly 
in the good work : Father Juan Maria Salva-Tierra, 
who was made Superior of the Mission, and who was 
well fitted for the place by his long experience among 
the heathen tribes of the province of Tarrahumara, in 
New Spain ; Father Piccolo, who was appointed in 
the place of Father Kino to accompany the expedition 
to its destination ; and Father Ugarte, who had been 
for many years Professor of Philosophy in the Col- 
lege of Mexico, but who cheerfully renounced his 
high position, his association with learned men, and all 
the comforts of home, that he might preach the gospeJ 
of Christ to the poor, benighted Indians. 

All these men were animated with holy zeal, 
quite different from the cruel and avaricious passions 
of their predecessors, and all relinquished comfort 



HISTORY OF CALIFORNIA. 67 

and even affluence, instead of expecting to gain them. 
Father Kino, years before, when a professor of mathe- 
matics in Ingoldstadt, Germany, had been attacked by 
a severe illness, in the midst of w^hich he made a vow- 
to his patron saint, Francisco Zavier, that if his life 
was spared he would devote it to the conversion of 
heathen nations. By some accident this good man 
Avas prevented from joining the first expedition, which 
he had been most zealous in preparing, and it sailed 
without him from the harbor of the river Yaqui, on 
the 10th of October, 1697. After many accidents, 
they arrived at the Bay of San Dionysio, on Sunday, 
the 19th of October ; and being pleased with the 
country as well as the reception given them by the 
Indians, landed there and established the Mission of 
Our Lady of Loretto. 

This was the first of a lar^je number of missions 
that were established by the Jesuits in Lower Califor- 
nia, and which in a few years accomplished more than 
had the adventurers of Spain and England in the two 
preceding centuries. 

Although Father Salva-Tierra met with no opposi- 
tion from the poor Indians, whom he mollified by his 
words of kindness, and by daily presents of i^ozoU^ or 
boiled corn, which he distributed to those that at- 



68 HISTORY OF CALIFORNIA. 

tended mass, he incurred the severest displeasure and 
hatred of the hechiceros^ or native priests, who had 
formerly held great control over the common people, 
and who now feared that under the influence of the 
religion which was introduced by the Christians, their 
votaries would learn to despise the arts which they 
practiced, and reject the authority which they held 
over them. 

At first the missionaries thought that, as the In- 
dians had no form of worship — neither bowed down 
to images of wood or stone, nor made sacrifices to any 
god — they would have a comparatively easy task to 
instruct them in the precepts of true religion; but 
they soon discovered that these apparently ignorant 
people had notions of their own in regard to a deity 
and a future state, which had been carefully incul- 
cated by the hecJiiceros^ who indeed held schools in 
secluded places in the woods and among the rocks, to 
which, at certain seasons, all the boys of the different 
nations were obliged to repair. 

There they were taught the hechiceros held con- 
stant communication with good spirits that lived in 
the sky, and with evil ones that dwelt in caves under 
the sea, and over which the whales were placed as 
guards that they might not escape. From these 



HISTORY OF CALIFORNIA. 69 

two sources these impostors claimed to have gained 
great wisdom, so that they could do all things. The 
simple-minded Indians believed all that they said, 
even that they could restore the dead to life, and per- 
form other miracles ; and it was with the greatest dif- 
ficulty the Fathers could induce them to renounce 
these absurd convictions, although they came to the 
garrison every day, and apparently heard with pleas- 
ure all the priests said. It must have required an al- 
most inexhaustible amount of patience to deal with 
those stupid people, especially as the missionaries un- 
derstood their language very imperfectly, and were 
obliged to resort to numerous stratagems in order to 
learn it. 

They would often gather the Indians together by 
distributing among them boiled corn, of which they 
were very fond ; they would then walk among them, 
and listen to their conversation, and write it down 
that they might remember the sound of the words. 
Yery often the Indians would laugh heartily at the 
mistakes made by the missionaries ; but these never 
grew angry, but continued their labors with patience, 
until at last, by means of types, signs, and in other 
ways, they became thoroughly acquainted with the 
two languages they found it necessary to speak. But 



70 HISTORY OF CALIFORNIA. 

this perfection was not gained without the exercise of 
much patience and ingenuity. It is related that at 
one time one of the missionaries was preaching to the 
Indians, and wished to tell them about the great prin- 
ciple of Christianity — the belief in the resurrection of 
the dead ; but he knew no word by which he could 
express his meaning, and in this dilemma hit uj^on an 
expedient to gain the knowledge so important both to 
himself and his hearers. He took some flies and put 
them under water, until the Indians supposed them to 
be dead ; he then took them out, placed them upon 
some ashes, and exposed them to the rays of the burn- 
ing sun. In a short time the flies gave signs of life, 
and in much amazement the Indians cried, " Ibimu- 
hueite ! " — and this word was subsequently used to sig- 
nify the resurrection of the dead. 

And besides this difficulty of making themselves 
understood, the missionaries had also that of render- 
ing God an object of love as well as of fear. The 
gods of the Indians — three of which they acknowl- 
edged but never worshiped — were regarded by them 
as terrible spirits, whom the sorcerers alone could ap- 
pease, and that only by enchantment. 

For some time the Indians were inclined to regard 
the Fathers as good spirits, and to render them hom- 



HISTORY OF CALIFORNIA. 71 

age as such. But it was with great reluctance that 
they obeyed their requests and threw off their liea- 
thenish customs, even while they bowed in the sem- 
blance of worship to the true God. It was especially 
difficult to induce them to wear clothing of any kind, 
although the Fathers supplied all those who attended 
service with garments made of serge, baize, or palmil- 
las, a coarse cloth which was woven in Spain. They 
also gave them cloaks and blankets ; but the Indians 
had a great dislike to all kinds of clothing, and con- 
sidered that they disgraced themselves by adopting it. 
When the Fathers distributed garments they indeed 
put them on, but as soon as they could possibly do so, 
would destroy or hide them. Father Venegas, in his 
History of Old California, says : " A monkey dressed 
up does not appear so ridiculous to the common peo- 
ple of Europe as a man in clothes appears to the In- 
dians of California." 

By many acts of kindness, principally by distributing 
to them jiozolh or boiled corn, the missionaries induced 
many of these wild creatures to attend mass. And it 
is probable that the maize attracted them much more 
than the service itself. Indeed, at one time they 
proved that very plainly by stealing it from the sacks 
in which it was contained. The priests resented this 



72 HISTORY OF CALIFORNIA. 

conduct, as tliey daily distributed all they could afford. 
The Indians then determined to kill all the Spaniards ; 
and after first destroying all the sheep and cattle which 
had been brought over from Mexico, and which were 
feeding in a field near by, they fell upon the garrison. 
This was during the night ; and most fortunately, just 
as the attack was commenced, a ship arrived in the 
harbor from Mexico, the signal gun of which brought 
the glad tidings of deliverance to the Spaniards and 
filled the Indians with terror. 

But the next morning they resumed the attack; 
for the shijD again stood out to sea, having only touched 
at that coast on account of bad weather ; and five or 
six tribes combined together to exterminate the good 
men who had sacrificed so much to serve them. 



HISTORY OF CALIFORNIA. 73 



CHAPTER VI. 

Father Salva-Tierra at San Dionysio.— Baptism of a Casique.— The 
Hechiceros and their Treatment of the Sick.— Father Ugarte.— 
A Hurricane.— Death of Fathers Salva-Tierra and Ugarte.— Build- 
ing of the First Vessel in California.— State of the Missions. 

It is difficult even to imagine the dreadful position 
in which Father Salva-Tierra and his followers were 
placed at the Mission of San Dionysio. This brave 
band, consisting only of ten men, not only endured all 
the hardships resulting from the poorness of the soil, 
which had disheartened all their predecessors, but had 
also to contend with the insolent savages, who often, 
in numbers even exceeding five hundred, attacked 
them. These were as cowardly as treacherous ; and 
therefore were readily repulsed by the firearms of the 
Spaniards, which, however. Father Salva-Tierra only 
permitted to be used in cases of great necessity. 

Not long after the establishment of the missionaries 
at San Dionysio, and very shortly after the first insur- 
rection was quelled, a casique, or chief, who had been 
converted by the teachings of Father Kino some years 
before, came from San Bruno to Father Salva-Tierra, 



74 HISTORY OF CALIFORNIA. 

and begged him to baptize him, as he was dying of a 
cancer, and wished to proclaim his faith in the doc- 
trines of Christianity. He was received into the mis- 
sions, cared for by the Fathers, baptized, and after his 
death consigned to the earth with the rites of the 
church. 

All this must have made a deep impression upon the 
minds of the Indians, who at such times had been used 
to totally different exercises ; for, according to the ac- 
counts given by Father Venegas and others, when one 
of their number was taken sick it was their custom to 
call in their hechiceros^ the only men aniong them who 
pretended to have any knowledge of medicine, and 
these usually ajDplied to the suffering parts of the pa- 
tient's body the chacuaco^ a tube formed out of a very 
hard black stone ; and through this they sometimes 
sucked, and other times blew, but both as hard as they 
were able, supposing the disease was either exhaled or 
dispersed. They sometimes filled the tube with the 
smoke of tobacco or some other herb ; and no doubt, 
as they claimed, the strength of these applications 
often removed pain ; but much more frequently the 
poor Indians were tortured to death by these means ; 
for if one was considered very sick, and the hechiceros 
said he would die, he was immediately told of his 



HISTORY OF CALIFORNIA. 75 

danger, and all his friends gathered in his hut to be- 
wail him. His daughter, or nearest female relation, 
would suffer her little finger to be cut off, as the 
hechiceros pretended that this sacrifice would either 
save the patient or remove from his family all sorrow 
for his death ; and then each of his friends would in 
turn seize the tube, and suck or blow upon him, while 
the others wept, each striving to cry the loudest. 
When the poor creature became insensible, the women 
would beat him with all their strength in order to 
arouse him ; and the hechiceros would thrust their 
hands into his mouth, and pretend to pluck death 
forcibly from his body. 

It is not wonderful that under such treatment but 
few sick persons recovered ; but it is indeed remark- 
able that the many that were saved by the tender and 
judicious care of the Fathers in most cases exhibited 
the basest ingratitude. Yet, in spite of this and of 
the intolerable laziness and stupidity of the natives, 
the Jesuits persevered in their labor of love. They 
established missions in different parts of the country ; 
often with their own hands erecting the poor liuts in 
which they dwelt and the churches from which the 
word of life was preached. 

Of these devoted missionaries, Father Uerarte forms 



76 HISTORY OF CALIFORNIA. 

a striking example. When engaged in founding the 
mission of San Zavier de Viaundo, some distance from 
that of San Dionysio, in a rugged and mountainous 
country, he saw the great need of inducing the In- 
dians to support themselves ; not only that the treasury 
of the society might be spared, but that the Indians 
might in earnest toil forget the careless, thoughtless 
mode of life they had formerly pursued. That they 
might have no cause of complaint, the Father himself 
set them an example. After saying mass to the In- 
dians in the morning, and giving them a breakfast of 
pozoli (boiled corn), he would go with them to the 
woods to hew down trees, or set to work in erecting 
the church, or in forwarding some other matter. His 
example and the rewards which he distributed had 
but little effect upon the men ; but the boys willingly 
assisted him, especially when they thought he worked 
entirely for their amusement; as in the making of 
bricks, when he beoran to sino- and dance in the soft 
clay, calling upon them to dance with him, which 
they did, until it was of sufficient hardness to use in 
the construction of his adobe dwellinQ^s. 

But he soon found that, though the effects of kind- 
ness were undoubtedly most excellent in dealing witli 
the children, sternness was necessary in the manage- 



HISTORY OF CALIFORNIA. 77 

ment of the adults. They often met together to jeer 
at his sermons and the mistakes he made in tlie use of 
their language. This annoyed him greatly, and, after 
trying all means of gentleness he could devise to in- 
duce them to desist, he decided, as he was a very 
powerful man, to see what force could do. 

One day in church he saw a very strong, insolent 
man mocking him, and seizing him by his hair, lifted 
him up and swayed him to and fro. His comrades 
were frightened, and fled from the church, but one 
by one returned, and never again jeered at the muscu- 
lar Father. They however often did worse, and 
revolted against his authority and that of his breth- 
ren. Many times they arose in force — the converted 
often joining with their savage brethren in attempts 
to destroy the missions. But they were usually quite 
easily subdued by the mild measures of the Fathers, 
or the guns of the two or three soldiers stationed in 
each garrison. From these soldiers themselves the 
Fathers often experienced much trouble, because of 
their discontent at being prohibited from engaging in 
the pearl fishery, in which they had often forced the 
Indians to dive in deep waters, and otherwise imperil 
their lives. 

Under the care of Fathers Salva-Tierra, Ugarte, 



78 HISTORY OF CALIFORNIA. 

and others, the missions soon flourished. Churches 
and dwellings were built, though it was found impos- 
sible to induce the Indians to live in the latter ; 
orchards and vineyards were planted, and many 
improvements made upon that barren soil which 
had been by so many considered useless. But in 
1717, to the great dismay of the missionaries and the 
Christianized Indians, their work was almost de- 
stroyed by a terrible hurricane which swept through 
the country. The church and house of Father 
Ugarte were destroyed; the very ground was torn 
away, leaving bare rocks where once cultivated land 
had been. At Loretto it is said that an Indian boy 
was carried away by the force of the wind and never 
beheld again. In that same year, Father Salva- 
Tierra, who had spent more than twenty years in the 
service of the Indians, died at Guadalaxara, while on 
a journey to the City of Mexico in their behalf. His 
loss, and that of Father Kino seven years before, was 
deeply felt throughout the missions ; for the latter 
had, by his exertions in Mexico, raised money and 
provisions — in more than one instance preventing 
thereby the work of Salva-Tierra and his brethren 
from being brought to an abrupt termination. This 
man it was who, by taking several hazardous and 



HISTORY OF CALIFORNIA. 79 

difficult journeys to tlie north, satisfactorily obtained 
the knowledge that California was a peninsula, and 
not a collection of islands as some had supposed, and 
for which reason the name of Islas Carolinas had 
often been applied to it. Fortunately, after the death 
of Salva-Tierra, the indefatigable Father Ugarte still 
remained. With untiring zeal he attended to his own 
mission, instructed, rewarded, governed his Indians, 
and went among the other tribes, in distant parts of 
the country, choosing sites for missions, many of 
which were afterwards founded by Fathers Tamaral, 
Bravo, and others. 

In the year 1719 he accomplished the most wonder- 
ful feat ever attempted in Lower California. It had 
long been a favorite project with the court of Spain, 
and also the Society of Jesuits, to open some port 
upon the coast of California, where the ships from the 
Philippine Islands might put in for fresh water and 
provisions, which the crews always greatly needed, as 
the long voyage invariably subjected them to the 
awful plague of scurvy. For some time Father 
Ugarte had considered the necessity of such a port, 
and at last determined to go in search of one where a 
mission mio;ht be founded. But he had no vessel with 
which to explore the coasts ; and for many reasons he 
determined to build one. 



80 HISTORY or CALIFORNIA. 

In the Vigge Mountains, at a distance of ninety 
miles from the Mulege River, where the vessel was 
built, he found timber suitable for his purpose, but 
ffrowinor in slouo-hs and ravines from which it was 
almost impossible to take it. Yet, by the patient toil 
of the Father and his assistants, it was done; and a 
road was also cut through the mountains, over which 
it was conveyed to the river by the oxen and mules 
belonging to the mission. Only three artisans from 
Mexico assisted in the construction of the vessel; all 
the other builders were native Californians. She was 
named " The Triumph of the Cross," and was launched 
in September of the year 1719. In company with an- 
other vessel sent from Mexico for that purpose, she 
sailed along the coast, discovering sites for missions, 
several of which were founded in the four or five sue 
ceeding years. 

These missions prospered well until 1722 and 1723, 
when a terrible flight of locusts passed over the land, 
destroying the pitahayas^ a fruit upon which the In- 
dians chiefly subsisted, and all other species of vegeta- 
tion. These locusts are said to have been so numerous 
as to have obscured the sun like clouds ; and they 
would undoubtedly have produced a famine in the 
land had not the Fathers distributed corn at the mis- 



HISTORY OF CALIFORNIA. 81 

sions to all that applied for help. After that, sick- 
ness came ; and the hecliiceros, who were losing their 
authority over the Indians, declared it was produced 
by the holy water with which the Fathers baptized 
infants and converts ; and by these words incited re- 
peated insurrections, the most terrible of which oc- 
cured among the Pericues during the autumn of the 
year 1734. 

6 



82 HISTORY OF CALIFORNIA. 



CHAPTER YII. 

Insurrection of the Pericues.— Martyrdom of Fathers Tamaral and 
Carranco, — Devotion of the Northern Indians. — The Expulsion 
of the Jesuits,— End of the History of Lower California. 

At that time fourteen missions were in existence, 
and all were in a flourishing condition, and a large 
number of Indians, the majority of whom were women 
and children, were regular attendants at mass, and 
gave evidence of being truly converted. No disturb- 
ances of any importance had occurred for some time ; 
and the Fathers were congratulating themselves upon 
the peaceful disposition of the Indians, when the ashes 
of their discontent suddenly burst into the flames of 
anarchy. An attack was simultaneously made upon 
all the southern missions ; and as there were only two 
or three soldiers to defend them, the Indians met with 
no resistance in the perpetration of their horrible 
cruelties. 

At the newly founded mission of Santa Rosa, the 
revolt was begun by the murder of a soldier. The 
Indians then tried to decoy Father Tamaral into the 
woods, on the pretense that they wished him to give 



HISTORY OF CALIFORNIA. 83 

absolution to the dying man, whom they represented 
to have been taken suddenly ill. Father Tamaral 
suspected that all was not right, and refused to go. 
Yet although he shortly afterwards learned the truth, 
and was entreated by a messenger from the other mis- 
sions to leave his post, he refused to do so ; and in a 
short time became a victim to the savage men he 
even at the risk of his life desired to serve. 

After murdering, at the mission of Santiago, the 
Missionary Father Lorenzo Carranco and a faithful 
Indian servant, and first mutilating then burning their 
remains, they returned to Father Tamaral, and drag- 
ging him by his feet from his house, cut his throat 
with one of the knives he had himself given them. It 
seemed that in these enraged so-called converts, the 
dreadful passions of their heathen life had been 
awakened, with a thousand times more power than 
they had ever exhibited before ; for they continued to 
assault with the most abominable and cruel insults the 
good man, who even with his last breath called upon 
God to forgive his persecutors. 

During this insurrection four of the southern mis- 
sions were entirely destroyed, and the others were 
only saved from the violence of the Indians by quar- 
rels which soon occurred among themselves, in which 



84 HISTORY or CALIFORNIA. 

they expended their fury in deeds more terrible than 
they had ever before imagined, even in the days when 
California had never been visited by a missionary, or 
its inhabitants had been approached by the civilizing 
influences of Christianity. 

The Fathers at the northern missions, on account of 
the terrible deeds which had been enacted in the 
south, felt a great mistrust of the Indians by whom 
they were surrounded, and leaving their missions, 
went to that of Loretto, at the Bay of La Paz. But 
to their great joy, it was proved at this time that the 
work of the missionaries was not all in vain, and that 
some few of the Indians at least were capable of the 
emotions of love and gratitude ; but no sooner had the 
Yaqui nation been informed of the acts of the Peri- 
cues and other tribes, than they sent over five hundred 
warriors to the support of the missionaries. With the 
aid of these, the refractory Indians were at length 
subdued, and after some time the missions were re- 
stored to their former prosperity. Those that had 
been destroyed were rebuilt, and the work of Chris- 
tianizing the Indians was continued with many of the 
same difficulties as before, but with very good suc- 
cess — in outward form at least. Yet, with all the 
good that the Jesuits performed in California, and all 



HISTORY OF CALIFORNIA. 85 

the sufferings they endured, the Indians under their 
rule became mere formalists and slaves. They bent 
their knees before the figure of the Virgin, made the 
sign of the cross, and dipped their fingers in holy 
water; yet, except in a few cases, they seemed to 
gain no idea of the principles of true religion, or to be 
influenced by them ; and though they toiled under the 
eyes of the Fathers, they immediately, when possible, 
returned to the slothful, savage life to which they had 
formerly been accustomed. 

After a career of usefulness of nearly a hundred 
years, and when their converts numbered about 
four thousand, the work of the Jesuits was sud- 
denly terminated by their expulsion from Califor- 
nia and all other Spanish provinces. 

For many years it had been believed by the 
Spaniards, who had considered California a land 
teeming with gold and gems, that the Jesuits rep- 
resented the soil to be barren and totally void of 
rich metals in order to discourage immigration, and 
thus secure to their own society the wealth of the 
land. These suspicions were proved to be unjust 
by visitors from Mexico and elsewhere ; but, though 
the Jesuits were declared innocent of treachery and 
fraud in California, they had become a sect of so 



86 HISTORY OF CALIFORNIA. 

much power in Europe, that at last King Charles 
III. of Spain, in terror for the safety of his throne, 
ordered them to be expelled from his dominions, and, 
accordingly, in 1767, the control of the missions was 
taken from them. 

However, we shall no longer follow the history 
of Lower California, out turn to the career of the 
Franciscan friars, who in the year 1769 entered the 
territory of the present State of California (then 
called Alia or Upper California), and spread the 
germs of that civilization which has rendered it one 
of the most prominent divisions of the great American 
Kepublic. 



HISTORY OF CALIFORNIA. 87 



CHAPTER yill. 

Earliest Settlement of Upper California. — Father Junipero Serra. — 
Sufferings of the Colonists. — Consecration of the first Church 
erected in California.— Trouble with the Indians. 

The first expedition made to attempt a settlement 
in Upper California was by the order of Don Jose 
Galvez, Inspector-General, who arrived in July, 1768, 
at the Bay of La Paz, to visit and inspect the state of 
the missions, which had lately passed into the hands 
of Father Junipero Serra and his brother friars. Find- 
ing the missions of Lower California in a promising 
condition, Don Jose Galvez proceeded to put in exe- 
cution an order from the court of Spain regarding the 
upper portion of the peninsula. It was decided that 
the first settlement should be made at San Diego 
(which is only eighteen miles north of the present 
boundary line which separates Upper from Lower 
California), the second at Monterey, and the third at 
a place midway between those two points, which was 
to be named San Buenaventura. It was arranged that 
part of the missionaries should go by sea, the others 
by land, and that they should meet at San Diego. 



88 HISTOKY OF CALIFORNIA. 

Two ships, the San Carlos and San Antonio^ were 
accordingly freighted with all kinds of agricul- 
tural implements, seeds, and other articles that were 
thought necessary for a new colony. The land forces 
drove before them two hundred head of neat cattle, 
not only to use as food, should necessity demand, but 
to employ in plowing and planting the soil. 

In the San Carlos — the first vessel that sailed — a 
missionary, twenty-five soldiers, and the officers and 
crew were embarked ; on the second — the San An- 
tonio — two missionaries and other soldiers, with the 
necessary number of sailors. The last vessel to sail 
was the first to reach its destination ; for, owing 
to the deplorable state of navigation which prevailed 
among the Spaniards of that period, and their igno- 
rance of the exact position of the point they desired to 
gain, the San Carlos many times barely escaped de- 
struction by the waves of the usually placid Pacific, in 
which she sailed far to the north of San Diego, where 
the crew and passengers of the San Antonio^ and one 
of the parties that had started overland, anxiously 
awaited her appearance. 

It seemed as if the settlement of Upper California 
was to be inaugurated by sufferings more terrible still 
than those endured by the early pioneers of the southern 



HISTORY OF CALIFORNIA. 89 

portion of the peninsula; for the San Antonio had 
lost eight of her crew by scurvy before she arrived at 
San Diego ; and the San Carlos was almost entirely 
without sailors, all but two having died during the 
long and perilous voyage. 

A third ship, which sailed after these two, never 
reached the port, and was never heard of again. One 
can scarcely conceive of anything more dreadful than 
the situation of these adventurers, a few only of whom 
were upheld in their undertakings by a sense of duty 
to the church, or thoughts of the great work they 
were striving to perform in bearing a knowledge of 
the gospel to heathen lands. The sailors and soldiers 
who suffered most were mere hirelings ; and how full 
of misery must their lives have been, as they tossed 
day after day upon the deep sea, first experiencing 
the tortures of thirst, which resulted from drinking 
the tainted, fetid water obtained from the coast, none 
other being procurable ! One after one died, and 
were buried by their despairing comrades in the 
depths of the sea ; until at last so many were gone, 
and the few that remained were so exhausted by sick- 
ness and wasted by famine, that they were unable to 
do anytlung for the preservation of their lives, even 
so much as to lower the boats or row to the shore for 



90 HISTORY OF CALIFORNIA. 

water. In this condition they were by some provi- 
dential chance drifted in sight of the port of San 
Diego, which the San Antonio had reached some days 
before. There they were soon joined by a part of the 
land expedition, which at the onset had divided into 
two companies and taken different routes, thinking by 
that means that one at least would reach their desti- 
nation in ease and safety. Both set out upon their 
journey on the same day, but took different routes. 
Fortunately, the second party, which was under the 
command of Don Gaspar de Portala, the Governor of 
California, arrived at San Diego first; and as they 
had with them a large number of cattle and a quan- 
tity of provisions, they were enabled to give speedy 
and welcome aid to the sufferins* crews of the San 
Carlos and San Antonio. 

Fortunately, they were all in good health and spir- 
its ; for they had encountered but few privations or 
difficulties on their way, which had lain through a 
very fine country, the rich soil and luxuriant herbage 
of which presented a strong contrast to the barren 
rocks of Lower California. The gently rising hills 
were crowned with grape-vines and roses ; and the weary 
travelers were often refreshed by the luscious fruit 
of the first and the delicious frao^rance of the latter. 



HISTORY OF CALIFORNIA. 91 

Although the roads were bad, they led them through de- 
lightful valleys and along clear mountain streams, that 
at once gave beauty to the landscape and richness to the 
soil. All this must have been very encouraging, as was 
also the friendly conduct of the numerous Indians whom 
they met. These were far superior in appearance and 
customs to those of the south. Although they made 
no attempt to cultivate the soil, they constructed boats 
and rafts of bulrushes, and ventured far out to sea on 
fishing expeditions ; and also proved themselves very 
expert in shooting, with their bows and arrows, the 
hares, rabbits, deer, goats, and other wild animals 
that abounded upon the hills. These people allowed 
the adventurers to pass quietly through the country, 
offering them no violence whatever. Indeed, they 
would take nothing from them except cloth ; and this 
proved that they possessed a degree of affection for 
the women exhibited by none of the other tribes, as 
they alone were clothed. Their garments were loose 
robes, woven of sedge, or tules, and ornamented 
with fringes of grass and shells. 

But they had not been long at San Diego, and had 
done nothing toward the establishment of the mission, 
when the sickness that had prevailed aboard the ships 
spread throughout the camp, and prostrated almost 



92 HISTORY OF CALIFORNIA. 

every man, so that it is said, on the arrival of the oth- 
er expedition in July, only eight were able to keep 
upon their feet. Of these, two — Father Junipero 
Serra and Don Miguel Costanzo, the engineer — were 
engaged in digging graves to receive the bodies of 
their unfortunate companions. 

How delighted they must have been to look upon 
the faces of their countrymen, whom they almost 
feared had been destroyed ! They had indeed endured 
many hardships ; and had once, after traveling many 
hundreds of miles, been obliged to return to the mis- 
sion from which they had set out; whence they took 
a new road along the coast of the Pacific, and after 
forty-six days discovered the port of which they were 
in search. The Indians first gave notice of their ap- 
pearance by jumping astride casks and holding their 
arms out; and greatly rejoiced must the colonists 
have been to learn by these signs that men on horse- 
back were approaching. 

Eut before long it was estimated that the provisions 
they had would not long support so large a body of 
men ; and, as the surrounding country was so unpro- 
ductive that there was no hope that they should be 
able to renew their supplies from it, they determined 
to endeavor to do so elsewhere, and it was resolved 



HISTORY OF CALIFORNIA. 93 

that two i^arties should immediately set out upon this 
important mission. 

The first departed in the San Antonio to obtain 
from San Bias a crew for the San Carlos, and provi- 
sions for the colony. The other was sent northward 
up the coast, to attempt the rediscovery of the Bay of 
Monterey, of which glowing accounts had been given 
by Viscaino many years before. When these had de- 
parted. Father Junipero Serra was left alone with two 
of the missionaries and eight soldiers, also a black- 
smith and a young boy, in the midst of a strange 
country, inhabited by a treacherous race, who soon 
exhibited their natural propensities. 

The Father, mindful of his sacred calling and the 
holy work he had undertaken, soon after the depart- 
ure of the second party raised an altar in one of the 
huts he had erected, placed before the door a cross 
decorated with flowers, and upon the 16th of July con- 
secrated this rude church. Thus was the first mission 
in Upper California founded, upon the day in which the 
Spaniards celebrated the triumph of the Holy Cross, 
that is, of the Crusaders over the Mohammedans that 
once held the supposed sepulcher of Christ at Jerusa- 
lem ; and it was hoped that, as those infidels had been 
overcome, so might those who then dwelt in Calif or- 



94 HISTORY OF CALIFORNIA. 

nia. Father Junipero Serra, the president of this 
mission, was a man of strange and austere character, 
devoted to Christ and the tenets of his religion. His 
life was one constant effort to mortify his body for 
the glory of God and the good of his soul. Life was 
too solemn a thing for a jest, a smile, or the slightest 
pleasure. He was constantly engaged in good works, 
in preaching, praying, or fasting. It is recorded of 
this extraordinary man that he often scourged him- 
self most cruelly with rods, in expiation of his sins or 
those of others. On one occasion, after delivering an 
eloquent sermon, he bared his breast and lashed him- 
self so dreadfully that a witness became so excited as 
to weep bitterly, and beg the Father not to chastise 
himself so cruelly while so great a sinner stood in 
his presence, and immediately bared his own breast 
and beat himself until he fell dead. Such horrible 
deeds now appear to us utterly incompatible with the 
doctrines of the peaceful religion of Jesus, but they 
did not to the stern and gloomy Serra and his follow- 
ers ; and it was expressly to bring upon themselves 
discomforts and sufferings, and to test their faith, that 
they entered into California and attempted the conver- 
sion of the Indians. 

But, though Father Serra exhibited toward himself 



HISTORY OF CALIFORNIA. 95 

SO much sternness and even cruelty, he followed the 
example of the Jesuits in Lower California, and wooed 
the Indians by words and acts of kindness. 

He first offered them food, but that they would not 
touch ; even the children ejected it from their mouths 
as if it were poison. This the missionaries looked 
upon as a direct interposition of Providence, as they 
would soon have been left entirely without provisions 
had they been compelled to feed the hungry multitude. 
But it was almost as great a task when they found 
they were expected to clothe them. Very soon all 
they could spare was distributed, and then the Indians 
began to steal. They went one night in their rush 
canoes and cut a large piece out of the sails of the 
vessel that lay in the bay, and committed other depre- 
dations. The priests reprimanded them, but inflicted 
no punishment ; so they armed themselves with bows 
and arrows, and stole everything within their reach. 

They soon became so daring that it was necessary 
to use force to protect the mission property ; for, re- 
lying upon their superior numbers, they tore the 
sheets from the beds of the sick, and even attempted 
to steal the cover of the altar and other articles in use 
in the church. 

For some time the priests endeavored to check their 



96 . HISTOKY OF CALIFORNIA. 

rapacity by peaceful measures ; but as these were dis- 
covered to be useless, the soldiers were armed and set 
against them, the good Father Serra retiring to his hut 
in great distress to pray that the contest might be 
bloodless. Meanwhile, the firing of the soldiers com- 
menced, while that of the Indians was continued with 
increased earnestness, as they cheered each other on 
by the most unearthly and barbaric cries and yells. 
Very soon Father Serra was aroused from prayer by 
the entrance of a boy, who threw himself at the feet 
of the venerable man, crying, " Father, give me abso- 
lution, for the Indians have killed me." 

As soon as his request was granted he died, and ex- 
cited by his death, the four soldiers that remained, with 
the blacksmith and carpenter, continued to discharge 
their arms with such effect that a large number of 
the Indians were killed, and all fled. The bravery 
of the Spaniards produced a great effect upon the 
Indians, and rendered them for some time perfectly 
submissive. In a few days they came to the mission, 
bringing their wounded with them that they might be 
healed by the physician of the Fathers. The death 
of the boy was carefully concealed from them, and 
although four of the Spaniards were wounded, it 
was so slightly that they in a short time entirely re- 



HISTORY OF CALIFORNIA. 97 

covered. For five months longer the little colony 
remained alone in a state of comparative quiet ; the 
Fathers busily engaged in attempting the conversion 
of the Indians, and all anxiously looking for the 
arrival of the San Antonio from San Bias ; yet, in 
spite of their hopes, it came not, and the first of their 
countrymen they saw were those who had gone north- 
ward to explore the coast. 



98 HISTORY OF CALIFORNIA. 



CHAPTER IX. 

The Discovery of the Bay of San Francisco.— Return of Portala 
to San Diego.— Arrival of tlie San Antonio.— 'Rediscoveiy of 
the Bay of Monterey. — Arrival of Monks from Mexico. — 
Missions established. — Frost at San Antonio. 

These adventurers, under the governor of the en- 
terprise, Don Gaspar Portalat left San Diego with 
the hope that they would have a delightful journey 
through a region teeming with fruitfulness, direct to 
the Bay of Monterey. But, Owing to their ignorance 
of the exact position of that point, they passed by it, 
and made a long and exceedingly wearisome march of 
more than seventy leagues to the northward. There 
they encountered that which amply repaid them for 
all the fatigue and anxiety they had endured. After 
wandering for many days over hills of sand, viewing 
with dismay the barren country on every hand, they 
suddenly came in sight of a magnificent sheet of water 
lying like an immense crescent of silver at the foot 
of the arid sand-hills, and upon the farther side 
bounded by blue mountains and slopes of vivid green. 
All uttered an exclamation of joy at this unexpected 



HISTORY OF CALIFORNIA. 99 

siglit ; and the friars exclaimed, " This shall be the 
port of our patron saint, the holy Francisco." 

No greater honor could these men have conferred 
upon this beautiful bay than to give it the name of 
tlie revered founder of their order. Since their ar- 
rival in California they had unceasingly looked for a 
place worthy of the honor. Before they left Mexico, 
all were greatly shocked, when told by the Inspector- 
General what names the missions were to bear, to 
find that the claims of their patron saint were entirely 
forgotten. " And is our father, San Francisco, to 
have no mission assigned him ? " exclaimed Father 
Serra ; and the Inspector-General, perhaps provoked 
at a question that betrayed his own thoughtlessness, 
replied, "If San Francisco wishes to have a mission, 
let him show you a good port, and then let it bear his 
name." 

" What better port could be found than this ? " 
thought the friars ; believing, indeed, that San Fran- 
cisco had led them to the spot, and even that the 
existence of it had been revealed to the Inspector- 
General by some means, when he uttered his seem- 
ingly irreverent words. 

Having named the port, they next took solemn pos- 
session of it, set up a cross, and after a short stay, re- 



100 HISTORY OF CALIFORNIA. 

turned to San Diego; arriving, after an absence of 
six months, to find Father Junipero still alone, with 
the few that had been spared by the ravages of dis- 
ease. 

A short time after the return of Governor Portala 
to San Diego he caused an inventory of the provisions 
to be taken ; and finding that they had only enough 
left to last them until the following March, and that 
the surrounding country was capable of producing 
little or nothing, he gave Father Junipero notice that 
unless the San Antonio before that time arrived with 
provisions, they would be obliged to abandon the mis- 
sion. This intelligence greatly afflicted the good 
Father, who, having "no other resource but in God, 
had recourse to prayer." 

He asked most earnestly that all their sufferings 
and labors might not be rendered ineffective by their 
removal from the mist of the heathen. At any rate, 
Father Junipero Serra resolved not to accompany the 
expedition back, and a few of his companions ex- 
pressed the same determination. 

How anxiously, during the following month, must 
the San Antonio have been looked for ! Doubtless 
the first glance cast by the faithful priests in the 
morning and the last at night was towards the sea. 



HISTORY OF CALIFORNIA. 101 

But they looked in vain — the San Antonio came not ; 
and at last St. Joseph's day arrived — that being the 
last the members of the little colony expected to pass 
together. Early in the morning high mass was cele- 
brated Avith all the pomp their circumstances would 
allow of ; and the Father-President preached a ser- 
mon, after which they all dispersed to prepare for 
their departure the next morning, doubtless in great 
tribulation and heaviness of spirit ; for not only did 
they think that their mission to California had failed, 
but also were filled with fears for their future safety 
on their perilous journey home. Suddenly their 
hearts were cheered by the appearance of a vessel 
upon the sea. A moment she was seen by all, and then 
vanished so swiftly that they believed it a phantom, 
sent as a presage of the speedy arrival of aid ; and 
their departure was accordingly delayed. Four days 
of intense anxiety succeeded, and then the San Anto- 
nio entered the harbor ; she proving to be the vessel 
that they had seen. Conceiving her appearence on 
St. Joseph's day to be a miracle, Father Junipero 
vowed to celebrate the event by an annual mass ; 
which he religiously performed to the end of his life. 
No sooner were the Spaniards supplied with pro- 
visions than they again turned their attention to the 



102 HISTORY OF CALIFORNIA. 

principal object of the expedition — the rediscovery of 
the magnificent Bay of Monterey. They had, indeed, 
visited it on their journey to the Bay of San Francis- 
co, but had failed to'recognize it. They were more for- 
tunate in their second attempt, for the land expedition 
under Portala entered it in time to receive Father 
Junipero Serra and others, who went by sea, taking 
forty-six days for the journey, which could now al- 
most be accomplished in as many hours. 

Father Serra seems, at first, not to have admired 
the situation or appearance of Monterey, which he 
speaks of in one of his letters as " this horrible port " ; 
but, according to the instructions received in Mexico, 
he founded a mission there. The inauguration cere- 
monies were performed with much pomp beneath a 
large oak, where a cross and an image of the Virgin 
had been set up. After mass was said, volleys of 
musketry were fired, which frightened the Indians so 
much that they could not be induced to approach the 
white men for some time. Meanwhile, the chapel 
had been completed, and after great efforts, the mis- 
sionaries so gained upon the good will of the natives 
that they began to attend mass, and a few were bap- 
tized. But the success of the Franciscans at that 
point cannot be said to have been great ; for only one 



HISTORY OF CALIFORNIA. 103 

hundred and seventy-five converts were made in 
three years, and tliese seemed to have been only such 
in name. 

About this time, Father Serra, having traveled 
throughout the country, wrote such an encouraging 
account of it to Mexico that thirty priests were sent 
to establish new missions. These were sent in the 
ships San Antonio and San Carlos; and with the ill 
luck which attended them in all their voyages, one 
vessel was detained so long by storms, that upon her 
arrival at San Diego all on board were afflicted with 
scurvy ; while the San Carlos, instead of proceeding 
up the Gulf of California to Loretto, for which place 
the missionaries she carried were bound, was driven 
down the coast of Mexico as far south as Acapulco, 
and her unlucky passengers were obliged to make the 
journey on foot up the Mexican shore, until they 
reached a point opposite Loretto— a distance of twelve 
hundred miles. 

Soon after the arrival of the twenty friars that had 
been sent to Upper California, the Mission of San 
Antonio was established. It was situated in the hills 
of San Lucia, a short distance south of Monterey, 
and about eight leagues from the coast. There, as 
elsewhere, the priests endeavored to make the soil 



104 HISTORY OF CALIFORNIA. 

produce all they required. Indeed, their chief idea of 
the conversion of the Indians seemed to be in makinor 
laborers of them, and preventing them from following 
the chase, or indulging in any of their accustomed 
modes of living. This was in a degree necessary ; 
but it sometimes subjected them to great straits when 
provisions at the missions became scarce, or a crop 
was blighted, as was once the case at San Antonio, 
when an unexpected frost passed over a field of wheat. 

For a time both the priests and the converted In- 
dians were overwhelmed with grief at the prospect of 
an approaching famine; but the former bethought 
themselves that all might not be lost. So they called 
the Indians together to celebrate the nonena of their 
patron saint, San Antonio, and at the same time 
caused the fields to be artificially irrgiated with 
water. In a few days, this and the hot sun j^roduced 
the desired effect — the wheat sprouted anew, and a 
plentiful harvest was the result. 

This the ignorant Indians were led to believe was a 
special miracle worked in their behalf. Indeed, it 
was one of the plans of conversion pursued by the 
Franciscans to ascribe nothing to natural causes. 
Thus the Indians were kept in the most lamentable 
ignorance, their natural tastes thwarted and subdued, 



HISTORY OF CALIFORNIA. 105 

find nothing taught them but to mumble over a few 
prayers and work like beasts in the fields. 

It is, then, but little wonder that missions founded 
upon this plan, and composed of individuals treated 
like beasts, supposed to have only the soul without 
the mind of man, should after a few years assume an 
inert character, especially after the death of the first 
missionaries, who, though pursuing an unwise plan, 
atoned for all mistakes by their Christian ardor and 
devotion. 

These, with great rapidity, established missions all 
over the country ; among them that of Dolores, near 
the Bay of San Francisco. This had been projected 
ever since the discovery of the bay in 1769, but was 
not carried into effect until seven years later, when 
Father Junipero Serra and others set out from Mon- 
terey overland, having previously dispatched a ship 
with the stores necessary for the attemjDt. 

The land force, as usual, arrived at their destina- 
tion long before the vessel ; and they occupied the 
time before she appeared in cutting down timber and 
selecting a site for a settlement, which was finally 
inaugurated on the 17th of Sejitember. 



106 HISTORY OF CALIFORNIA. 



CHAPTER X. 

The Mission Dolores established.— Effect of Pictures upon the In- 
dians.— The Pious Fund.— Several Missions founded.— An Attack 
upon San Diego. — Father Jayme murdered.— Death of Father 
Junipero Serra. 

The natives, who had upon the arrival of the mis- 
sionaries at San Francisco welcomed them with many 
demonstrations of pleasure, were so frightened at the 
ceremonies used at the establishment of the mission, 
that at San Antonio none for a long time could be 
induced to aj^proach it. They did not understand the 
way in which the pious priests gave thanks to God, 
by the continual discharge of firearms, used instead 
of the music of the organ ; and the explosion of gun- 
powder in place of the burning incense. 

But no doubt the priests thought that the glory of 
God was increased by these ceremonies, which so 
alarmed the simple-minded Indians, and which, with 
an incursion of an unfriendly tribe, effectually put to 
flight any feeling of kindness toward their visitors, 
and for some time prevented any conversions from 
beinir made. 



HISTORY OF CALIFORNIA. 107 

The only mission, the establishment of which seems 
to have been opposed l)y the natives, was that of San 
Gabriel, situated about one hundred and twenty miles 
north of San Diego, from which point Father Pedro 
Cambon and Father Angel Somera set out with ten 
soldiers and several muleteers. 

When they arrived at their destination they found 
the Indians in a very troublesome mood. To quell 
them, the Fathers exhibited a piece of cloth, upon 
which was painted the image of Our Lady de los 
Dolores (of Sorrows). This is said to have had such 
an effect upon the minds of the savages that they 
immediately became quiet, made signs of obedience to 
the lady, and allowed the settlement to proceed. 

This effect of pictures and other gaily colored 
ornaments was often very great upon the simple- 
minded Indians. Even to a late day, pictures of 
heaven and hell adorned the walls of the mission 
church; and although the quiet beauty of the first 
did not attract, the terrors of the latter frightened 
them so greatly that they were often the means of 
converting them. 

After establishing several missions, which were sup- 
ported by subscriptions sent from Spain and Mexico, 
and called the Pious Fund of California, Father Juni- 



108 HISTORY OF CALIFORNIA. 

pero Serra visited Mexico, and by his representations 
not only prevented the Viceroy, Bucareli, from with- 
drawing the marine force from San Bhis, whence 
the chief stores in use in California were obtained, 
but succeeded in obtaining from him aid for the mis- 
sions, of which they were greatly in need, but which, 
with the usual delay attending all sea voyages at that 
period, did not reach the missions until they were 
nearly all starved, milk having been the food of both 
priests and converts for nearly eight months. 

Encouraged by the arrival of provisions, and also 
the return of Father Junipero with substantial proofs 
of the sood will of Mexico, the missionaries continued 
their labors with renewed zeal, which, however, met 
with a check the following year by an attack upon 
San Diego similar to those which had been made upon 
the missions of Lower California during the rule of 
the Jesuits. 

This, as in most other cases, was incited by the 
hechiceros^ and resulted in the murder of Fatheij^Luis 
Jayme, who went out with one or two others peace- 
fully to meet the insurgents. One of the missionaries 
at this time exhibited the most distinguished courage 
by holding the skirt of his habit over the powder, in 
order that it might not be reached by a spark from the 



HISTORY OF CALIFORNIA. 109 

houses which the Indians had set on fire. This he did 
the whole night, though wounded, and each moment 
incurrins: the risk of beinor blown to atoms. 

Thus the powder was preserved, and the four sol- 
diers in the kitchen fort succeeded in dispersing a 
large body of infuriated savages. 

For some time afterwards they seemed to have a 
wholesome dread of the Spaniards, and offered but 
little opposition to their movements. 

Directly after this event, Father Junipero Serra 
founded the mission of San Juan Capistrano, and also, 
as we have noticed, that of San Francisco, where the 
first baptism was celebrated on St. John's Day, 1776. 

Two weeks later, three other missions had been 
established — Santa Clara, Santa Barbara, and San 
Buenaventura. These, with the five which previously 
existed, were often visited by the president, Junipero 
Serra, who in the year 1782 "finished his laborious 
life at the age of seventy years, nine months, and 
twenty-one days. He had passed fifty-three years, 
eleven months, and thirteen days in holy orders." 



110 HISTORY OF CALIFORNIA. 



CHAPTER XI. 

State of the Converted Indians.— Selfishness of the Fathers.— 
"Wealth of the Missions. — The Native Calif ornians. — The Indians 
freed. — Loss of power by the Friars. — Arrival of Commodore 
Jones.— The American Flag raised over Monterey.— Fall of the 
Missions. 

The missionary cause lost in Junipero Serra, who 
had devoted to it over thirty years of his valuable life, 
one of its most earnest supporters. Indeed, from the 
date of his death we read of no very distinguished 
men in California, although missions were founded all 
along the coast, and supported by the labor of the 
converted Indians and the proceeds of the Pious 
Fund, which was constantly increased by gifts of 
money and lands. 

The Indians were very tractable, and perfectly sub- 
servient to the wishes of the Fathers, who exercised 
the same control over them as masters formerly held 
over slaves in the Southern States. 

In name, they were free, but in name only, as they 
were not permitted to follow their own pleasure when 
it in any degree differed from that of the Fathers. 



HISTORY OF CALIFORNIA. Ill 

They were forced to sow and reap, plant vineyards, 
and gather in the fruit ; yet they couhl make use of 
nothing except that which was doled out to them by 
the Fathers. Their j^roperty, their families, their own 
bodies and souls, were completely under the jurisdic- 
tion of the priests, who fancied they did all their duty 
by teaching those poor creatures the name of God 
and bestowing upon them the rite of baptism. 

Life at the missions must have been very wearisome 
to those who through all their lives had been accus- 
tomed to roam untrameled from one portion of the 
country to the other; to climb in quest of game the 
snowy peaks of mountains in summer, and in autumn 
to descend to the warm sequestered valleys to pluck 
the ripened fruits for their winter store ; and then, 
again, to stand by the rapids of a mountain stream 
and spear the fish that came leaping down, or to sit 
idly by the seashore and draw in their rude nets laden 
with finny treasures. This excess of freedom must 
often have been remembered with a sigh by these ap- 
parently thoughtless creatures, as they filed into the 
church at dawn, and listened, without understanding a 
word, to the monotonous tone of the priest as he said 
mass, or catechised them like so many children, and 
then dismissed them to their breakfast of atole (a sort 



112 HISTORY OF CALIFORNIA. 

of gruel made of corn). After which they toiled in 
the fields until dinner, at which they were supplied 
with 2^ozoli. After partaking of this meal they at- 
tended mass, and then returned to the gardens or 
fields until vespers, when they were again served with 
atole^ and dismissed early to their little adohe huts, of 
each one of which the Fathers kept the key. 

4^0 the missions were conducted for a long series of 
years — the Fathers gradually becoming more and 
more selfish, and the Indians slowly decreasing in num- 
bers under this foreign rule. In process of time the 
missions became wealthy ; each boasted a church gaily 
decorated, several adohe dwellings, all the rich lands 
in the vicinity, and thousands of cattle that roamed in 
security over the plains. The hides and tallow of 
these, and some wine, formed the chief exjDorts. 
Some idea of the wealth of these missions may be 
gained from the fact that at one time San Luis Obispo 
owned eighty-seven thousand head of grown cattle, 
two thousand tame horses, three thousand five hun- 
dred mares, three thousand seven hundred mules, and 
eight sheep farms averaging nine thousand sheep on 
each farm. This was one of the richest missions ; yet 
the others did not fall much short of this in the num- 
ber of their possessions. Many owned services of 



HISTORY OF CALIFORNIA. 113 

plate of great value ; that of Santa Cruz was valued 
at twenty-five thousand dollars. 

It seems strange that the flourishing state of the 
missions did not induce immigration ; but the friars 
universally opposed the settlement of strangers in 
California for a period of more than a hundred years 
from the founding of the missions. Friars, Indians, 
a few soldiers and their families, with those of a small 
number of adventurers, formed the population. These 
were visited occasionally by trading vessels, which 
staid a few days in each port, exchanging articles of 
dress and finery for hides, tallow, and wine. 

Gradually the mixed people that inhabited the land 
became different from any other in America. They 
possessed the language and much of the appearance 
of the Mexicans, and also many of their customs ; but 
were distinguished from them by the many traits in- 
herited from the Indians and occasional settlers. As 
a people, they appear to have had but little religious 
fervor, though they regularly attended mass, and be- 
gan all their games and recreation with religious exer- 
cises. They were very fond of bull-fights and races. 
A native Californian was taught to ride before he 
could walk ; and they excelled in the management of 
their horses. 

8 



114 HISTORY OF CALIFORNIA. 

For many years the greatest prosperity and perfect 
peace reigned throughout the land. The Indians re- 
mained quietly in their state of servitude, and all 
other settlers yearly grew more wealthy in herds of 
cattle and stores of wine. In the year 1826, this 
order of things was first interfered with by the 
Federal Government of Mexico, which, having ad- 
mitted California as a Territory two years before, and 
given it a representation in Congress, began to look 
into its affairs. 

In the first place, all " Indians bearing good char- 
acters and able to support themselves by agriculture 
and trade " were ordered to be set free, and grants of 
lands were set apart for their use. After they were 
settled, curates were appointed to superintend them, 
the salaries of whom (four hundred dollars per 
annum) were to be paid from the product of the soil. 

Doubtless the friars were jealous of this innovation, 
which detracted so much from their own power, and 
would do nothing to favor it. From this and other 
causes, the plan was found to be unprofitable. The 
Indians had been placed in such a state of dependence 
by the friars that they could do nothing of them- 
selves. In a short time they lost or gambled away 
all the property that had been given them, and were 



HISTORY OF CALIFORNIA. 115 

forced to beg or steal for a living. The respectable 
inhabitants begged the priests to receive the Indians 
back, and they did so, sending, hov^^ever, a com- 
plaint to the Mexican Congress, which induced them 
to pay all arrears and promise the payment of all fu- 
ture salaries. 

From that time, attention having been called to 
California, trade began to thrive there. The Fathers 
entered into commercial relations with the numerous 
traders who came to the coast ; and until the year 
1833, they controlled the destinies of the country. 
Then the Mexican Government again interfered ; and 
although in the early part of the year it showed its 
good will by sending eleven Franciscan monks to the 
assistance of the missions, a few months later a law 
was passed ordering the immediate removal of all mis- 
sionaries. Great was their consternation when emis- 
saries from Mexico arrived to put this arbitrary de- 
cision into practice. The lands were to be divided 
among the Indians and settlers, and the funds of the 
monks to be used for state purposes. Although the 
Fathers knew that they must submit to the power of 
Mexico, they determined to give up nothing that they 
could destroy. 

However, before they could do anything, news 



116 HISTORY OF CALIFORNIA. 

arrived from Mexico that the Democratic Government 
had been overturned, Santa Ana proclaimed Presi- 
dent, and that he would support the missions as before. 
But, from the continual change of government in 
Mexico, California was in a state of constant agitation 
for several years. In 1836, the first attempt of the 
Californians to institute a government for themelves 
was made. Aroused by repeated grievances, the 
people of Monterey, in that year, declared themselves 
independent of Mexico, unless the original form of 
government granted to California was adopted. This 
example was speedily followed throughout the coun- 
try — many of the towns and villages refusing to 
return to their allegiance on any terms. 

Sen or Don Mariano Guadalupe Vallejo was ap- 
pointed Commander-General by the disaffected ; and 
soon after, all the Mexican officials and soldiers were 
forcibly ejected from the country. Mexico, on her 
part, ordered General Urrea to subdue the rebels. 
But nothing was effected; and the press of other 
events so distracted the attention of Mexico, that the 
Californians were entirely overlooked ; and at last, 
tired of anarchy, they voluntarily accepted the new 
government of Mexico. 

Although for many succeeding years the Califor- 



HISTORY OF CALIFORNIA. 117 

nians themselves lived in quietness, all foreigners 
were looked upon with a jealous eye by the Mexican 
officials. Several Americans were arrested on the 
most frivolous pretexts, imprisoned for some time, 
and then discharged, to find their way from the 
country without friends, money, passports, or any 
protection. This conduct, and also the reports given 
by occasional visitors, excited the interest of the 
United States ; and a project was formed of adding 
California to their own possessions. A ship of war 
was stationed on the coast, with a consul aboard, to 
whom all matters of grievance were reported. 

In 1842, Commodore Jones, who was then in the 
Pacific, being deceived by reports which reached him 
of the existence of war between Mexico and the 
United States, and knowing well the wishes of the 
latter regarding California, sailed with his two ships 
— the United States and the Cyane — to Monterey, 
where he arrived on the 19th of October. 

Immediately after, he hoisted the United States flag 
over the town, and declared California a part of the 
United States. He next day received news which 
convinced him that he had acted precipitately. He 
took down the flag, declared the whole proceeding a 
mistake, and apologized handsomely to the frightened 



118 HISTORY OF CALIFORNIA. 

officials. The mass of the people were disappointed at 
his speedy withdrawal, as they were ready to wel- 
come any government that would better their condi- 
tion, by permitting them to develop the resources of 
their country. 

The missions, meanwhile, were falling to decay. 
The priests, perceiving that all of the administrations 
concurred in desiring their complete removal, grew 
disheartened and neglected their work, and soon left 
the country. In 1845, their final ruin came. Part of 
the missions were sold at public auction, and the 
others were rented. The proceeds of the latter were 
divided into three parts. The first paid the salaries of 
the remaining priests; the second' was given to the 
converted Indians ; and the third was set by as a Pious 
Fund for charitable purposes. 



HISTORY OF CALIFORNIA. 119 



CHAPTER XII. 

Captain John A. Sutter.— He joins tlie Forces of Micheltorena. — 
The Californians victorious.— Arrival of John C. Fremont. — 
Treachery of Castro.— Collision of the Americans with the Mexi- 
can Authorities.— The Flag of the United States raised at 
Monterey.— Arrival of Commodore Stockton.— Capture of Los 
Angeles.— Its Eecapture by the Mexicans. 

From that period, the dissensions which had long 
agitated the people of California became more and 
more complicated in their character. The civil wars, 
which for years had been conducted with much vio- 
lence of feeling though with little bloodshed, were 
participated in by both natives and foreigners, in the 
vain hope that order might be established. The set- 
tlers, who had almost imperceptibly made themselves 
a power in the land, fretted under the tyrannical and 
uncertain rule of Mexico ; yet many of them, having 
been awarded grants of land from that government, 
considered themselves bound in honor to support it. 

Of these, the most prominent was Captain John A. 
Sutter. Sutter was a native of Kandern, Baden, 
where he was born February 3, 1803. At the age of 



120 HISTORY OF CALIFORNIA. 

twenty he graduated from the military academy of 
Berne, Switzerland, and subsequently served in the 
Swiss guard of the French army. In 1834, he emi- 
grated to the United States, settling first at St. Louis, 
and two years later at West Point, Missouri, where 
he engaged in the cattle trade. In 1838, he crossed 
the Rocky Mountains with a party of trappers, and 
from Fort Vancouver went to Honolulu, thence to 
Sitka, and finally to San Francisco, which he reached 
July 2, 1839. In 1841, Sutter obtained possession of 
a large tract of land in the Sacramento Valley, which 
he called New Helvetia. This tract he cultivated in 
wheat and stocked with horned cattle, sheep, horses, 
mules, and swine, giving employment to hundreds of 
domesticated Indians as laborers, and to a large num- 
ber of Americans and Europeans as overseers. Near 
the juncture of the American and Sacramento rivers 
he erected a fort, and in a short time made himself the 
most prominent of all the foreign settlers. Being 
Justice of the Peace, he held actual control over that 
region. As early as 1844, he joined Governor Michel- 
torena with over a hundred men, to aid in subduing a 
rebellion headed by Jose Castro, who for many years 
had held a prominent position among the disaffected. 
Hcj as well as Governor Micheltorena, had succeeded 



HISTORY OF CxVLIFORNIA. 121 

in inducing a number of foreigners to join him. But 
when the rival armies met, these by mutual consent 
withdrew from the conflict, and left the Californians 
to decide it alone. 

This they did after a brief and almost bloodless 
engagement, which took place near Los Angeles. 
Castro's forces were victorious, and immediately ap- 
pointed Pio Pico (the senior member of the territorial 
legislature) governor, and Jos^ Castro general of the 
troops. Governor Micheltorena, his officers, and many 
soldiers were sent in an American bark to San Bias. 

During these contentions, an almost imperceptible 
tide of immigration had set in from the East to the 
verdant slopes of the Pacific. As early as 1826, a 
trapper named Jedediah Smith had found his way 
across the Rocky Mountains into California ; and in 
succeeding years his track was followed by numerous 
daring spirits, the most renowned of whom was John 
C. Fremont, who early in the year 1846 reached the 
borders of California with a force of sixty-two men, 
and by his unexpected appearance silenced the con- 
tentions which had already arisen between the newly 
elected Governor Pico and General Castro. 

Great was the distrust with which the young 
"Pathfinder" was viewed. The feeling of the United 



122 HISTORY OF CALIFORNIA. 

States towards California was well known, and both 
the governor and general doubted not that the young 
officer had been sent, not only on his avowed duty — 
which was the discovery of a better route from the 
western base of the Eocky Mountains to the mouth of 
the Columbia Eiver — " but also to see what steps 
should be taken for the annexation of California to 
the United States." 

The Mexicans, remembering their recent loss of 
Texas, which had revolted in 1835, and ten years later 
was received into the Union, looked with much jeal- 
ousy upon the encroachments of Americans upon their 
territory. Accordingly, Castro, wishing to regain the 
confidence of the Mexican Government, after having 
granted Fremont permission to proceed to the valley 
of the San Joaquin, where the necessary supplies for 
his men and horses were to be found, aroused the Cal- 
if ornians to repel the invaders from their soil. 

An appeal to men to defend their homes from dan- 
ger, however slight the appearance of it may be, is 
never made in vain. In a few days Castro had col- 
lected a large force, and then, pleading fresh instruc- 
tions from Mexico, he sent word to Fremont to leave 
the country, or that his company would be attacked, 
and himself and his followers destroyed. 



HISTORY OF CALIFORNIA. 123 

Luckily, Colonel Fremont had not been deceived 
by the specious courtesy of Castro, or the " word of a 
Mexican soldier," which he had declared was as good 
as the " bond " which Fremont had desired him to 
give for his safety. Besides which, he had been 
warned of treachery by Thomas O. Larkin, the 
American consul at Monterey. lie therefore was 
not unprepared for Castro's message ; and, so far 
from being daunted by it, returned an oral reply, de- 
clining to take any notice of the orders of a man who 
had so shamefully broken his faith, and declaring 
that he should go when he was ready. 

That he did not intend to do so then, he showed by 
taking a position on a height overlooking Monterey, 
which was called the "Hawk's Peak," and intrench- 
ing him'self there. 

Though there were no soldiers an)ong them, this 
little party of "scientific explorers and rough path- 
finders " proved themselves worthy to fight under the 
" stars and stripes " they had raised above them ; for 
although Castro avoided an engagement, they suc- 
ceeded in showing him, by their undaunted front, 
that they were ready to close with him at any time. 

For four days Castro paraded his cavalry before 
their breastworks ; being careful, however, not to come 



124 HISTORY OF CALIFORNIA. 

within rifle-shot, as they had no admiration for empty 
saddles — " and native Californians wisely held that 
it were a foolish thing for such good riders to be per- 
manently unhorsed." 

Castro was equally careful of his infantry and ar- 
tillery ; for although the latter were busily engaged 
in getting their field-pieces in place, they refrained 
from turning them upon the defiant Americans. 

At last, tired of this useless show, and mindful of 
his instructions not to provoke a quarrel with the 
Mexicans, Fremont broke up his camp and proceeded 
northward towards Oregon. Castro claimed this re- 
treat as a victory, and was careful not to endanger his 
easily won laurels by following the party, who met 
with no accident until they were within the borders of 
Oregon. There, upon the shores of the Greater Klam- 
ath Lake, Fremont heard that an officer with dispatches 
from the United States Government was seeking him. 
He turned back, with a few of his men, and encoun- 
tered Lieutenant Gillespie, who had crossed the conti- 
nent from Vera Cruz to Mazatlan, whence he had 
sailed to Monterey in a United States sloop of war. 
Thence he hastened after the explorers, bearing on his 
person but few documents save private letters ; no 
doubt giving Fremont orally much valuable imforma- 
tion. 



HISTORY OF CALIFORNIA. 125 

An In the camp were mucli excited by his arrival 
and the news he brought from their homes ; and for 
that night their vigilance was rehixed. Early in the 
morning they awoke from sleep to find Indians upon 
them ; and the death of four of their number was the 
penalty of a few hours' indiscretion. 

Knowing that war between Mexico and the United 
States was imminent, and conceiving it possible that 
the Indians might have been incited to violence by 
Castro, Fremont determined no longer to endeavor to 
maintain peace, or to withdraw quietly from the 
country. 

Eisking, therefore, the displeasure of his Govern- 
ment, or perhaps acting upon secret instructions, Fre- 
mont returned to the valley of the Sacramento, and 
prepared to strive with Castro for the possession of 
California. 

The daring officer was immediately surrounded by 
all the settlers upon the Sacramento and Feather 
rivers, a portion of whom, hearing that a large force 
was marching upon the Americans, advanced to re- 
pulse them. They found that the number of the 
enemy had been greatly exaggerated, as it was but a 
small party which had been sent by Castrx) to remove 
a large number of government horses from the Mis- 



126 HISTORY OF CALIFORNIA. 

sion of San Rafael, on the north of the Bay of San 
Francisco, to Santa Clara on the south. 

This, the forces of Fremont prevented, capturing 
the horses and sending the men to Castro ; then 
marching on to Sonoma, where they took possession 
of the fort, one hundred and fifty stand of arms, and 
nine brass cannon. But their most important deed 
was the capture of General Yallejo, whom, with two 
other persons of distinction, they sent to Sutter's Fort 
at New Helvetia. 

William B. Ide was left at Sonoma, with eighteen 
men, to hold possession of the town, while Fremont 
was busy among the settlers organizing a battalion, 
which was soon called upon to hasten to Sonoma to 
support Ide, against whom, it was reported, Castro 
with a large force was advancing. 

Within thirty-six hours they had passed over the 
eighty intervening miles and were at Sonoma, where 
they found that, instead of being in jeopardy, Ide and 
his followers had routed a band of ruffians under 
Padilla, and a body of troops commanded by De la 
Torre, and the only enemy to be found in the country 
were fugitives from these bands. Part of these fell 
victims to the vigilance of Fremont's scouts, but the 
larger number fled to Saucelito, and finding a boat 



HISTORY OF CALIFORNIA. 127 

there, crossed the bay, and left the northern shore to 
the undisputed rule of the Americans. 

The next conquest was that of San Francisco. 
First, the Captain of the Port, II. T. Eidley, was 
captured, and sent to Sutter's Fort; and next Fre- 
mont, Kit Carson, Lieutenant Gillespie, and a few 
others crossed the bay, spiked the guns of the Pre- 
sidio, and returned to Sonoma, where the following 
day, July 5, 1846, the victorious party raised the bear 
flag and declared the independence of California. 

Fremont's battalion then numbered one hundred 
and sixty mounted riflemen, part of whom started in 
pursuit of Castro, who was retreating towards Los 
Angeles. They were preparing to follow him when 
word came that the flag of the United States had 
been raised over Monterey, and that the naval forces 
resting there would unite with them in the capture 
of Castro. 

Great were the rejoicings upon receipt of this wel- 
come intelligence. The flag of Independence was 
torn down, and that of the United States raised in 
its stead ; and under its protection Colonel Fremont 
and his troop proceeded towards Los Angeles, while 
Commodore Sloat, of the frigate Savannah^ took 2)os- 
session of Monterey, and dispatched a messenger to 



128 HISTORY OF CALIFORNIA. 

Commodore Montgomery, of the United States sloop 
of war Portsmouth^ to raise the flag over San Fran- 
cisco. This was done ; and in a few days many other 
towns were also in possession of the Americans. 

Colonel Fremont and Commodore Sloat, being igno- 
rant of the actual existence of war between Mexico 
and the United States, and having acted without 
direct instructions from Washington, were each in- 
clined, should any blame be attached to them, to 
throw the responsibility upon the other. Colonel 
Fremont claimed to have acted in self-defense ; Com- 
modore Sloat, from false ideas of Fremont's position, 
and also to guard the Californians from the English, 
who had placed a squadron upon the coast to seize 
any opportunity that might offer of adding the coun- 
try to the possessions of the crown. 

Unaware that orders were being forwarded to him 
from Washington to act precisely as he had done, 
Commodore Sloat was in fear of the consequences of 
his acts, and accordingly disposed to be severe to- 
wards the cause of them. 

Colonel Fremont, who had been engaged in the 
discovery of a number of arms and a quantity of 
ammunition which had been hidden by Governor 
Mlcheltorena during the visit of Commodore Jones 



HISTORY OF CALIFORNIA. 129 

four years before, did not report to Commodore Sloat 
until six days after he was requested to do so ; and 
then, wlien questioned, he had only his " own author- 
ity " to offer for his actions. 

At this. Commodore Sloat was greatly alarmed and 
annoyed, and refused to have anything more to do in 
the matter. So Colonel Fremont, with his battalion, 
applied for aid to Commodore Stockton, who had just 
arrived in the United States frigate Congress, 

Although inferior in rank to Commodore Sloat, he 
determined at once to act for liimself, and to assist 
Fremont in the capture of Castro. He obtained per- 
mission from Sloat to take command of the land 
forces ; and, with Fremont and Gillespie in command 
under him, immediately proceeded to carry into effect 
a proclamation, in which he announced his determina- 
tion to rescue California from those who had treated 
his countrymen with such inhospitality, and who kept 
the land in a state of revolution and bloodshed. 

Colonel Fremont and his battalion having been sent 
to San Diego in the Cyane^ Commodore Stockton, a 
week later, proceeded in the Congress to join him, 
stopping on the way and taking peaceable possession 
of Santa Barbara and San Pedro. At the latter place 
he learned that Castro and Pico were at Los Angeles 
with about fifteen hundred men. 



130 HISTORY OF CALIFORNIA. 

As Fremont, though safely arrived at San Diego, 
had no horses to mount his men, Stockton decided 
that he must make the capture of Castro without the 
aid of the battalion. He therefore drilled his marines 
for the march, and with six small guns, borrowed 
from the shipping, set out for Los Angeles. 

He was met on his way by messengers from Castro, 
who warned him that if he dared bring his forces into 
Los Angeles, it would prove their grave. Stockton 
returned word to Castro to have the bells tolled at 
eight in the morning, for at that time he should enter. 
Castro did not think it prudent to obey, but disbanded 
his forces and fled to Sonora. 

Immediately after obtaining possession of Los 
Angeles, Stockton garrisoned the surrounding towns 
with small numbers of troops, proclaimed California 
a Territory of the United States, and instituted a civil 
government, which, in its harmony and peacefulness, 
so greatly differed from that which had preceded it, 
that the people gladly accepted the new order of 
things, and Stockton was enthusiastically received as 
a public benefactor wherever he went. 

Learning, at this time, of the existence of war be- 
tween the United States and Mexico, and conceiving 
that he had established the power of his Government 



HISTORY OF CALIFORNIA. 131 

on a firm basis in California, Stockton resolved to 
raise a number of volunteers among the American 
settlers, and hasten to the assistance of General 
Taylor, who was then supposed to be marching upon 
the City of Mexico. 

This bold project was never executed ; for no 
sooner had Stockton left Los Angeles in the com- 
mand of Captain Gillespie, and proceeded north in 
furtherance of his plans, than the city was unex- 
pectedly attacked and conquered by a party of Mexi- 
cans, who, ashamed of their previous cowardice, had 
placed themselves under General Flores, and sworn 
to redeem their honor and rescue California from 
foreign rule. 



132 HISTORY OF CALIFORNIA. 



CHAPTER Xm. 

Stockton recommences the Subjugation of California.— He proceeds 
to San Pedro.— Meets General Kearny.— March to Los Angeles. 
— Battles on the Banks of the San Gabriel and the Plains of the 
Mesa.— Stockton enters Los Angeles. — Appoints Fremont Gov- 
ernor of California.— His Collision with General Kearny. 

No sooner was the news of the capitulation of Los 
Angeles and Santa Barbara conveyed to Stockton, 
than he resolved to abandon his greater schemes and 
return to the work of subjugation he had fancied 
completed. He soon discovered that the most difficult 
part of his task awaited him ; for the Mexicans, 
aroused by the proclamations of Flores, had thronged 
to his standard in great numbers. 

From San Francisco, Stockton immediately sent 
the frigate Savannah to San Pedro, to re-enforce that 
place ; Fremont was called from Sacramento to San 
Francisco, with all his force ; and shortly after, hav- 
ing raised one hundred and sixty volunteers, sailed 
for Santa Barbara, at which place he was ordered to 
obtain horses and join Stockton in his march upon 
Los Angeles. 



HISTORY OF CALIFORNIA. 133 

Having safely arrived at his destination, he found, 
to his chagrin, that all the horses had been driven 
from that 2)oint into the interior. He was therefore 
long delayed from joining Stockton, who had mean- 
while reached San Diego, having withdrawn from 
San Pedro, his first landing place, and where the 
enemy were intrenched to the number of eight hun- 
dred men. 

Near San Diego his ship — the Congress — grounded 
while attempting to cross the bar ; and while she lay 
helpless, the Californians attacked the town. Stock- 
ton, however, succeeded in landing a part of his 
troops, and defeated the enemy ; who, however, lay 
in great force at San Bernardino, and made repeated 
attacks upon San Diego. 

From that point, while suffering from a thousand 
discomforts — the most serious of which, want of food, 
was arrested at an early stage by the capture of a 
drove of cattle — Stockton made ready for his march 
upon Los Angeles. A few horses and some cattle 
had been procured by the exertions of Captain Gib- 
son and Captain Hensley ; and they were preparing 
to move forward, when word reached the Commodore 
that General Kearny, with a force of United States 
troops, was in the vicinity, and desired to open 
communication with him. 



134 HISTORY OF CALIFORNIA. 

Commodore Stockton immediately dispatched Cap- 
tain Gillespie with a force of thirty-five men to meet 
Kearny ; and later, upon the receipt of intelligence 
that he had been attacked by the enemy at San Pas- 
qual, sent also Lieutenant Gray with two hundred and 
fifty men. This force induced the Mexicans to with- 
draw from the town, and secured the safe passage of 
Kearny to San Diego. 

There he found Stockton at the head of a work he 
had himself been sent by Government to perform, and 
which he had supposed, by the dispatches carried by 
Kit Carson, whom he had met near Santa F^ on his 
road from Mexico, was already successfully accom- 
plished — a belief which had been suddenly destroyed 
on his entrance to California by the attack of the in- 
surgents. 

As the person deputed by Congress to invade Cali- 
fornia, *' and should he conquer it " to establish a civil 
government there. General Kearny had undoubtedly 
the right to command the expedition. Commodore 
Stockton recognized the right; but General Kearny 
declined taking the command from him, and agreed to 
act as his second. However amicably this arrange- 
ment was made at the time, there has been great con- 
troversy concerning the position of the two officers 



HISTORY OF CALIFORNIA. 135 

since, and to which the credit of the attack upon Los 
Angeles really belongs. To Commodore Stockton, 
who originated and provided the means for it, the 
])ralse is almost universally given. 

On the 29th of December, in the midst of the rainy 
season, the march began. This march was rendered 
formidable by the heavy mud and sands which the 
marines, freshly drilled in military tactics, were forced 
to traverse. They entered upon the expedition with 
ardor, although they were for the most part wretch- 
edly clothed and shod with canvas. The draft- 
horses were so feeble that Captain Turner of the 
dragoons was obliged to put men in their places. 
Thus, over the almost impassable road, defended at 
every point by the enemy, the little army proceeded to 
battle, dragging their heavy guns and the carts laden 
with provisions and ammunition with their own handff. 

Still General Fremont, who had gone to Monterey 
to procure horses, had been unable to join the com- 
mander-in-chief. A courier was sent, advising him of 
the advancement of Stockton, and warning him not 
to risk an action with the enemy. Lieutenant Selden 
was sent with a small vessel to protect him during 
his expected march through the defile of Rincon. 

Meanwhile, the weary march towards Los Angeles 



136 HISTORY OF CALIFORNIA. 

was steadily continued. Several propositions for the 
negotiation of peace, sent by Flores, were rejected; 
and on the 7th of January the opposing armies 
met on the banks of the Rio San Gabriel. On the 
next day an action took place. The Mexicans were 
posted upon heights on the opposite bank of the river, 
their guns commanding the ford. Commodore Stock- 
ton, however, notwithstanding the constant fire of the 
enemy, effected a crossing, helping with his own 
hands to draw the guns across the bed of the river, 
which General Kearny reported to be quicksand. As 
soon as the passage of the river was made, the battle 
besran in earnest. Commodore Stockton commanded 
the artillery, and himself pointed every gun, doing 
such execution that the cannon of the enemy were 
quickly silenced. General Kearny with his troops 
scaled the heights and captured them, while Commo- 
dore Stockton and Captain Gillespie repelled attacks 
of the enemy on every hand ; at last compelling them 
to retreat to the opposite bank of the river, whence 
they poured a brisk fire into the Americans, until 
driven from their position by Stockton's well-directed 
cruns. The loss of the Mexicans has never been'ascer- 

o 

tained ; that of the Americans was two killed and 
nine wounded. 



HISTORY OF CALIFORNIA. 187 

Although forced to retreat at this point, the Mexi- 
cans on the following day made a gallant charge 
upon the Americans, on the plains six miles distant. 
There a corps of cavalry, with banners flying, and 
their magnificent horses most gaily caparisoned, rap- 
idly and enthusiastically advanced towards the com- 
pact square in which Stockton had massed his entire 
force, and to whom he had given directions that their 
fire should be reserved until the eyes of the enemy 
could be seen. 

With dauntless courage the little band awaited the 
approach of the Californians, pouring into them at the 
first signal a deadly fire, which threw them into the 
wildest confusion. Again and again they advanced, 
and were met in the same way, with the same result ; 
and at last yielded to the unflinching prowess of the 
Americans, and fled in every direction. 

The leaders, General Flores and Andreas Pico, a 
few days afterwards fell into the hands of General 
Fremont, who, not knowing that Commodore Stockton 
had refused to treat with them for terms of peace, 
finally agreed upon articles by which they gave up all 
their arms, and yielded the country to the United 
States. These proceedings were afterwards approved 
by Stockton, who, having entered Los Angeles, ap- 
pointed Fremont Governor of California. 



138 HISTORY OF CALIFORNIA. 

Then began the quarrel between Commodore 
Stockton and General Kearny, which detracted much 
from their usefulness in California. General Kearny 
denied the right of Commodore Stockton to appoint a 
governor, exhibiting a commission from Congress 
conferring that honor upon himself, should he " con- 
quer California." Commodore Stockton denied that 
he had done so, and therefore declared his commission 
useless. Congress afterwards approved this decision. 

On the 22nd of January, 1847, Commodore Shubrick 
arrived in California, and as senior in commission, 
superseded Commodore Stockton in command of the 
squadron. To him General Kearny applied to ratify 
his commission as Governor. This he did not be- 
lieve himself authorized to do ; and therefore Kearny 
was not recognized as Governor until the arrival of 
instructions from Congress, which were dated in 
November of the preceding year. 

Not being informed of the authority conferred upon 
General Kearny by Congress, General Fremont for 
some time continued to discharge his duties as Act- 
ing Governor, and hereby subjected himself to the 
charge of disobedience to his superior officer, for 
which he was tried by court-martial and suspended 
from the service. Although in consideration of his 



HISTORY OF CALIFORNIA. 139 

many services he was immediately restored to his rank 
by the President, he withdrew from the army, and 
only returned to it when the cry of treason called 
every loyal soldier to the support of Liberty and 
Union. 



140 HISTORY OF CALIFORNIA. 



CHAPTER XIV. 

California ceded to the United States by Mexico.— Immigration. — 
Sufferings of the Donner Party.— Discovery of Gold at Coloma. 
— Sutter's Mill. — The Cities deserted. — Rush of Gold-seekers 
into California.— Sudden Growth of Towns. 

Although no decided battle took place after the 
capture of Los Angeles, skirmishes were frequent 
during the following year between the Americans and 
the few unsubdued Californians. At last, more than 
a year after the actual conquest of California, it was, 
in November, 1848, formally ceded to the United 
States by tlie Mexican Congress. By the peace then 
concluded between the two nations, the United States 
gained Texas, New Mexico, and Upper California. 

Almost immediately the unimagined riches con- 
tained beneath the rugged surface of the latter were 
revealed, and the eyes not only of America but of the 
civilized world were turned upon this new El Dorado. 

A population was already there to develop its 
resources. The towns of Monterey, San Francisco 
(which had until this time been known as Yerba 
Buena), Los Angeles, and others contained several 



HISTORY OF CALIFOHNIA. 141 

hundreds of inhabitants, who with characteristic 
energy engaged in commerce, warmly interested 
themselves in the politics of the day, and already 
dimly beholding the great future of the country, 
encourao^ed immisfration to its shores, assisting; with 
ready liberality all destitute persons. These unfortu- 
nately were many. The route across the plains was 
little known, and many who attempted it were sub- 
jected to privations of the most dreadful character. 

The most noted sufferers were a party of emigrants 
who left the East in the spring of 1846, and, attempt- 
ing a new route through the Great Basin which lies 
between the Kocky Mountains and the Sierra Nevada, 
were so long delayed on the journey that the winter 
came upon them and forced them to stay amid the 
impassable snows of the Sierra. Soon their provi- 
sions failed them, and there, in wretched huts, freezing 
and starving, the larger portion of the company re- 
mained, while a few pushed forward, and after endur- 
ing incredible hardships, a part reached a settlement 
on Bear Kiver, having preserved their lives by feed- 
ing on those who fell by the way. 

The news they brought soon spread from settlement 
to settlement, awakening the heartiest and most ener- 
getic sympathy. Captain Sutter, of New Helvetia, at 



142 HISTORY OF CALIFORNIA. 

his own expense sent a party with provisions to the 
relief of the sufferers. The people of Yerba Buena 
raised fifteen hundred dollars at a public meeting 
and followed his example, while the naval command- 
ant also fitted out expeditions. 

The first of these reached Truckee Lake (now 
called Donner Lake) on the 19th of February. They 
found ten dead persons in the first camp — the sur- 
vivors having sustained life by feeding on bullocks* 
hides, of which they had but one left. 

Leaving a small supply of provisions with the 
twenty-nine which they could not take with them, the 
relief party started back with the rest. ^ 

Other parties reached the lake at different times, 
but on their return to California were overtaken by 
storms, in which they were obliged to leave the un- 
fortunate immigrants, who, like those behind them, 
were forced to resort to human flesli for support. Of 
this unnatural diet it is said they at last acquired a 
taste, some even preferring it to other food when it 
was to be obtained, and resorting to foul murders to 
satisfy their appetites. 

The last relief party reached the camp in April — 
too late to be of much service. One man alone re- 
mained alive ; and he, maddened by suffering, was 



HISTORY OF CALIFORNIA. 143 

cowering over a fire in one of the wretched huts, 
watching a pot in which was cooking his horrid meal 
of human flesh. 

This man had witnessed all the horrors that had 
passed, and endured more suffering than can even be 
conceived. First had come the gradual approach of 
starvation ; then as they sat around the fire dreadful 
whisperings were made as to who should be the first 
sacrificed to the general need. Many died ravine- 
mad ; others forgot their love for father, mother, child 
— all that had been dearest to their hearts — and took 
their lives that they themselves might live. In all 
these horrors had this man participated, and at the 
last his nature was so changed that force was neces- 
sary to induce him to forsake the dead bodies that lay 
around him, and return with the relief party to Cali- 
fornia. 

One human feeling alone appeared to remain in the 
breasts of those poor creatures when discovered by the 
different relief parties, and that was the love of gold. 
Mrs. Donner, the last of the immigrants to die, was 
supposed to have been killed for her money, by the 
wretched man who could have had no hope of using 
it. Many of those first rescued sank upon the road, 
choosing to die rather than leave the money they were 
burdened with. 



144 HISTORY OF CALIFORNIA. 

Of the eighty individuals who composed this party, 
thirty-six perished, eight being females. Their fear- 
ful story will never be forgotten in California, and 
cannot fail wherever read to thrill the heart with pain. 

At the time this event occurred it was supposed 
that it would materially check emigration to Califor- 
nia ; but almost immediately afterwards Colonel Jona- 
than D. Stevenson's regiment arrived from New York, 
having passed around the Horn. These supported 
Kearny as Governor of the country, until with Fre- 
mont he returned to the East, where the latter was 
subjected to trial for insubordination. 

Colonel Stevenson's regiment was a most valuable 
addition to the population of the country. Most of 
its members were artisans who remained in the country 
after their term of service had expired, finding em- 
ployment at their trades at high wages, until they and 
all others abandoned their usual pursuits and rushed 
to the banks of the American River, where, at Colo- 
ma, gold was discovered on January 19, 1848. 

The first piece of the precious metal was picked up 
by James W. Marshall, while at work in a race for a 
saw-mill which was being erected by himself and 
Captain Sutter. 

This yellow stuff, of the nature of which there was 



\ HISTORY OF CALIFORNIA. 145 

at first some uncertainty, was given to a Mrs. Wimmer, 
to be boiled in saleratus water. She, however, being 
engaged, threw it into a kettle of boiling soap, and on 
the following morning found the lump brighter than 
ever. Thus being assured of its value, a search for 
more was quickly made — the first lump being left 
with Mrs. Wimmer. 

The frontispiece to this volume is an engraving of the 
scene of the discovery of gold at Sutter's Mill. It has 
been copied from Nahl's famous painting of that his- 
toric spot. It is the only correct representation of the 
place in existence as it appeared at the time the discov- 
ery of gold was made by Marshall. It is quite different 
in appearance now. Mining operations have obliter- 
ated every landmark of that early period. The mill, 
which occupies the middle of the picture, was removed 
partly by miners for use in their operations, and partly 
by travelers in the form of mementos of the place and 
the event which brought it into world-wide notice. 
The mill was located on the left bank of the south 
fork of the American River, about one quarter of a 
mile below the present town of Coloma. 

Being assured of the wealtli of the surrounding 
land, Sutter and Marshall bought a large tract from 
the Indians for a lot of beads and a few cotton hand- 
le 



146 HISTORY OF CALIFORNIA. 

kerchiefs, and under this title claimed one-third of the 
gold found. 

In the next month Marshall discovered gold lower 
down the river, and sent a party of Mormons, of 
which there were many in the country, to work there ; 
and in the following September, Peter L. Wimmer, 
who was with Marshall when the first discovery was 
made, found at the Middle Fork of the American 
River a gold deposit which yielded eight hundred and 
fifty-six dollars in one day. 

The fame of these discoveries spread from settle- 
ment to settlement, causing the greatest and most 
unaccountable excitement. People remembered the 
rumors of the existence of gold which had been 
whispered years before, and believing, as Governor 
Mason said, " that the land was full of gold," left all 
and rushed to the foothills of the mountains, west- 
ward and northward, leaving the usually busy towns 
silent and forsaken. 

What a revolution in the fortunes of California was 
caused by the discovery of gold ! The newly gained 
possession of the United States, which was at best 
looked upon as an encumbrance, within a month after 
the treaty with Mexico revealed a source of wealth 
which had been before almost unsuspected. 



HISTORY OF CALIFORNIA. 147 

For nearly a year the wondrous tales that reached 
the East were unbelieved ; but when proofs in the 
form of nuggets and gold-dust were exhibited, the 
most skeptical could doubt no longer, and thousands 
within the following year left their homes and rushed 
to " the dlf^^o^inors." 

The towns which had been deserted by their origi- 
nal inhabitants were suddenly filled with immigrants. 

San Francisco, in the space of a few months, grew 
from a village to a city. Tents sprung up on the hill- 
sides ; houses could not be erected quickly enough to 
shelter the eager multitude that came through the 
Golden Gate, paused a day or two in the city to look 
around them, and then, more excited than ever by the 
tales they heard and the gold they saw, pushed on to 
the mountains, erected rude rockers on the river 
banks, and pan in hand eagerly sought the precious 
particles washed from the mountain sides. 

Many were successful. Immense fortunes were 
sometimes made in a single day. Nuggets of gold 
varying from the size of a pea or a hazel-nut were 
found, and in some cases masses of two or three 
pounds in weight. For the first year or two these 
discoveries were frequent ; then, as the country be- 
came filled with men who thronged in, all forsak- 



148 HISTORY OF CALIFORNIA. 

ing their former pursuits and becoming miners, the 
chances of making them became more rare, and thou- 
sands of men wandered from one part of the country 
to another, enduring the greatest hardships in their 
search for gold, returning at last in poverty to their 
native places, or, broken down in health and energy, 
settling upon lands freely offered by government to 
all that would take them. 

Others were employed at wages varying from twen- 
ty to thirty dollars per day in building up the city of 
San Francisco. Houses were brought in parts from 
the East and erected at immense cost ; the redwood 
trees upon the hills were hastily converted into planks 
for the walls of dwellings, while paper and cotton 
served for partitions ; hills were leveled, streets 
graded, and in fact a city improvised and filled with a 
great population almost with the quickness of magic. 

Strange to say, neither Marshall nor Sutter reaped 
any of the benefit of the discover}^ of gold. Marshall 
was of a thriftless, unsettled, and somewhat dissipated 
disposition. Most of his life, after the discovery, he 
spent in prospecting for new deposits of the precious 
metal. At the present writing (May, 1883), he is 
still engaged in that occupation, residing, in compara- 
tive poverty, in a rude cabin at Kelsey, a place sit 
miles from Placerville, El Dorado County. 



HISTORY OF CALIFORNIA. 149 



The discovery of gold ruined Sutter. It caused a 
stampede among his employees, most of whom fled into 
the mountains in search of gold, taking with them his 
horses, leaving his growing crops to ripen, wither, and 
rot for want of harvesters, and his cattle to the mercy 
of thieves. Sutter, also, caught the gold fever. He 
set those Indians who remained with him — about two 
hundred in number — to dig; for g-old in American 
Kiver. But the enterprise was unsuccessful. It cost 
more to supply implements and provisions than the 
value of the gold he obtained. Gold-hunters were gen- 
erously fed by him by the thousands, as they pushed on 
to the mines. His hospitality was, nevertheless, fright- 
fully abused. He was robbed again and again. It is 
said that in 1849-50, $60,000 worth of stock was stol- 
en from him by one party. The timber and grass on 
his lands were cut and carried off without compensa- 
tion to him. He was deprived of his land by claim- 
ants who seized it " under new laws and new circum- 
stances," and he was never able to recover it through 
the courts. In 1851 he ran for Governor on the Whig: 
ticket, but was defeated, and he then retired in com- 
parative poverty to his Hock fjwm, a small and undis- 
puted possession on the west bank of the Feather River, 
with the empty title of a General of Militia to comfort 



160 HISTORY OF CALIFORNIA. 

him. Afterward Sutter became a pensioner on the 
State, receiving as such $250 a month, in recognition 
of his services and his sacrifices. But in 1868 the 
pension was stopped, and Sutter repaired to Washing- 
ton to push his claims for compensation for the loss of 
his property before Congress. For twelve years he 
continued in the role of an unsuccessful petitioner, and, 
overwhelmed by disappointment, died in poverty in 
June, 1880. 



HISTORY OF CALIFORNIA. 161 



CHAPTER XV. 

Gamblers and their Victims.— Speculations of Merchants.— Progress 
of Gold-Mining.— A Convention.— A State Government adopted. 
—California admitted into the Union. 

It naturally happened that in the great rush from 
the Atlantic States, it was not only laborers, mechan- 
ics, and eager speculators that came ; but also those 
who, by their vices, had rendered themselves odious 
in older communities, and had hastened to California 
to elude the law and to benefit by the toil of honest 
men. 

Thus it happened that, while San Francisco was 
still a city of tents, and while even the hulks of ves- 
sels lying in the bay were used as houses, it was filled 
by gamblers and villains of all descriptions. These 
rented the best houses in the town at enormous prices ; 
fitted them up handsomely, dispensed from the bar 
the finest liquors, and displayed upon their tables piles 
of gold, which rapidly changed hands from player to 
player. 

Night and day were these houses open ; and gam- 
bling was considered no vice, but merely a specula- 



152 HISTORY OF. CALIFORNIA. 

tion, in which all engaged. Thus it happened that 
the greater portion of the gold washed from the crev- 
ices of the rock ; dug from holes in the beds of 
streams ; toiled for, suffered for by men who seemed 
to ignore, in their search, all sense of pain or danger; 
passed into the hands of gamblers, seldom reaching 
again the original possessor. Often it happened that 
a man who wore in his belt a fortune, and came to the 
city to embark for home, lost every dollar on a single 
card, and returned to the diggings, or, maddened by 
his folly, ended his life by the knife or pistol. 

This was the age of gambling. It was practiced in 
every way. Merchants freighted vessels at the East 
with the most useless articles, and sold them in the 
great mart of California (San Francisco) at most ex- 
travagant profits. Often, however, it happened that 
they were obliged to make the profits of one cargo 
cover the losses of a dozen others, as there was fre- 
quently such a profuse supply sent for a temporary 
demand, that the greater portion was left to rot in the 
harbor. Thus at one time the muddy streets of San 
Francisco were paved with unopened boxes of tobac- 
co; and at another tons of potatoes rotted on the 
wharves. 

These cargoes were brought by small vessels, which 



HISTORY OF CALIFORNIA. 153 

were often almost wrecks before leaving the Eastern 
wharves ; and thousands of men, regardless of danger, 
took passage upon them, in the hope of finding com- 
pensation in the land of gold for all discomforts they 
might meet in reaching it. 

Many, in the narrow compartments of these vessels, 
or amid the forests and swamps of Panama, con- 
tracted fevers, and either died before reaching Cali- 
fornia, or found themselves totally unfit for the work 
before them. Yet, to the mines they hurried, being 
unable or unwilling to remain in San Francisco ; and 
thus the autumn after the discovery of the gold-beds, 
hundreds of graves lay within them, filled by those 
who, in their lust for gold, had sickened and died. 

Enough, however, returned laden with gold-dust to 
induce others to risk their lives in pursuit of the glit- 
tering treasure ; and by those eager adventurers, the 
hitherto almost unknown land was thoroughly ex- 
plored. 

Often it happened that a man who was making a 
fortune rapidly at one point would abandon it to seek 
one still richer ; and frequently disappointed, would 
return to his first station to find it impoverished by the 
toil of others. In those days, no gain, however great, 
contented a man : and as these adventurers were un- 



164 HISTORY OF CALIFORNIA. 

trammeled by family or friends, they wandered from 
one place to another in eager search of wealth, and, 
in many cases, died in poverty. 

Soon, being scoured by such a multitude, the placer 
diggings failed to give such rich returns to the labor 
of the pan and rocker ; and gradually mining was 
conducted in a more scientific way. First, flumes and 
dams were constructed for conveying water to ele- 
vated points, and thus separating the gold from the 
sands ; then more efficient tools took the place of 
"jack-knives," picks, and pans; and later, when the 
surface of the earth had been despoiled of its aurifer- 
ous particles, the quartz veins — the deposits whence, 
by the rains of ages, these atoms had been washed — 
were opened. Crushing mills were then erected, and 
also various other kinds of machinery for the reduc- 
tion of the ores. 

California, however, passed through many changes 
before it reached this degree of skill in mining, or 
gained a political position which protected its rapidly 
increased population in their enterprises. 

Even before it had been ceded to the United States 
by Mexico, the mode in which it should be governed 
was contested in Congress. The Southerners con- 
tended that such a vast tract of barren land, offering 



HISTORY OF CALIFORNIA. 165 

80 few encouragements to immigration, would only be 
rendered of service by slave labor. The Northerners 
denied this; and the most violent altercations ensued, 
which the discovery of gold served to increase ; so 
that, as late as the year 1849, Congress adjourned 
without establishing any government over California. 

True, the civil government, which at the end of the 
war succeeded the military one, still remained ; but it 
in no wise sufficed for the control of the increased 
population, or the protection of the widely extending 
commerce. 

In view of this, Governor Riley, by advice, it is 
said, of the President and Secretaries of War and 
State, issued a proclamation calling upon the people 
to elect State and town officials, and advising them to 
meet in convention and adopt a State or Territorial 
government. 

This call was immediately answered. Politicians 
were not scarce, even in this new country. Thirty- 
seven delegates were rapidly chosen to meet in con- 
vention at Monterey. Of these, San Francisco sent 

On the 1st of September, 1849, in Colton's Hall at 
Monterey, the first meeting was held. The people 
were generally represented by the pioneers of the 



156 HISTORY OF CALIFORNIA. 

country ; John A. Sutter, Mariano de Guadalupe Val- 
lejo, and many others were present. 

The convention was soon permanently organized ; 
Robert Semple, of Sonoma, being appointed Presi- 
dent ; W. E. P. Hartnell, Interpreter ; W. G. Marcy, 
Secretary ; Caleb Lyon and J. G. Field, Assistant 
Secretaries ; and J. Ross Browne, Official Reporter. 

The great want, during the sitting of this conven- 
tion, was that of books of reference. Copies of the 
State Constitutions of Iowa and New York were the 
only ones that could be obtained ; and it was, per- 
haps, for that reason the old Constitution of Califor- 
nia, adopted by the convention, resembled so closely 
that of the latter State. 

The proceedings were conducted with the greatest 
harmony, the subject of slavery being the only one 
upon which there was any violent controversy. This, 
fortunately, was ended in its entire prohibition. 

On October 13th, the convention adjourned, having 
adopted unanimously a State Constitution and fixed 
the boundary lines, encompassing an area of one hun- 
dred and eighty-eight thousand, nine hundred and 
eighty-one square miles within the limits of Cal- 
ifornia. 

Pending admission into the Union, California pro- 



HISTORY OF CALIFORNIA. 157 

ceeded to govern itself. Governor Riley surrendered 
the administration of civil affairs into the hands of 
the Governor chosen by the people, Peter H. Burnett. 

At the first meeting of the legislature, two United 
States Senators were chosen — John C. Fremont and 
William M. Gwin being the successful competitors 
against H. W. Halleck, T. J. Henley, T. Butler King, 
and J. W. Geary. 

Thus California was fairly started on its political 
career; and upon its admission in 1850, it took a 
prominent place among the States of the American 
Union. 



158 HISTORY OF CALIFORNIA. 



CHAPTER XVI. 

Gtrowth of Towns— Floods and Fires— The Chinese— Arrival of 
Steamships from New York — Great Fires in San Francisco — Its 
rapid Growth. 

The years immediately succeeding this event were 
marked by the rapid growth of cities and towns that 
had sprung up throughout the country. That of San 
Francisco, as it was the chief sea-port, attracted most 
attention ; but not less remarkable was that of Sac- 
ramento and other long-establishe'd towns, and also 
those which the working of the mines called into ex- 
istence. 

Among the most prominent of these was Marys- 
ville, which was laid out in 1849, at the junction of 
the Yuba and Feather rivers. This place soon be- 
came the chief market for the miners throughout that 
region, who carried thither large quantities of gold in 
exchange for provisions, clothing, and tools. Within 
a year from the date of its foundation, the principal 
street of the town exhibited many handsome brick 
buildings, many of which were, however, unfortu- 
nately destroyed by fire in August, 1850.. The filling 



HISTORY OF CALIFORNIA. 159 

up with mining debris of the beds of the Feather 
and Yuba rivers has since threatened the destruction 
of the city by flood, and the construction of high 
levees has been necessary to protect it. 

Takinjx warninj]: from this, the inhabitants of Sac- 
ramento City raised tlie grade of the streets four or 
five feet, thereby escaping any severe loss by floods, 
until as late as the year 1862, when the whole valley 
was under water. A flood quite as high occurred also 
in 1878, but the city that time escaped, owing to a 
superior system of levees protecting it. 

Not only floods but fires threatened the existence 
of these new towns ; yet still they struggled and 
flourished. Grass Valley, Nevada, Placerville, Stock- 
ton, and scores of villages that existed only for a 
few weeks, and whose sites are now forgotten, all 
suffered from the terrible destroyer. 

Millions of dollars' worth of property was often de- 
stroyed in a single night. A spark falling upon the 
roof of a wooden shanty would often, with lightning 
rapidity, clothe an entire village in flames ; and im- 
mediately, if the district were prosperous, as many 
houses as had been destroyed would rise like magic 
upon the smoldering ruins, perhaps in a few months 
to be removed by some still more terrible conflagra- 
tion. 



160 HISTORY OF CALIFORNIA. 

The towns that suffered most from this cause were, 
of course, in the mining districts, where the chief 
material used in buildino; was wood; the villao^es of 
adobe — Los Angeles, San Luis Obispo, and Monterey 
— remained intact, being far removed from the mines, 
their Spanish j)opulation presenting a striking contrast 
to the cosmopolitan throng that wandered up and 
down the river banks, and threaded the mountain 
paths of the north. 

Perhaps in no country upon earth beside could such 
a population be found. Gold cries with a voice of 
irresistible power ; and within a year from its first 
discovery it had drawn thousands of men from the 
Eastern States, from Europe, from Africa, from Asia. 
Indeed, the Chinese soon became an important ele- 
ment in the population of California. 

Unobtrusive and industrious, content to work 
where white men would starve, they were at first 
welcomed with pleasure ; and as cooks, laundrymen, 
and house-servants, became valuable aids to the 
slow march of civilization. Ever appearing in their 
national dress, quiet yet cheerful, they presented a 
pleasing addition to the quaint scenes of the newly 
settled land ; and for some years, in San Francisco 
and elsewhere, were looked upon as a valuable in- 



HISTORY OF CALIFORNIA. 161 

dustrial acquisition. At last their very quietness 
awakened suspicion ; the miners took alarm at the 
vast numbers that settled upon and made money 
from their deserted gold-fields. Many persons pro- 
fessed to see great danger in this unlimited immi- 
gration of Asiatics; and Governor Bigler proposed 
that a tax should be levied upon all Chinese. This 
produced great consternation among them ; and the 
arrival of men and goods from China for some time 
ceased. 

A second proposal to tax foreigners succeeded bet- 
ter, but the Chinese only were affected by it. They 
were obliged to pay four dollars a month for working 
in the mines, it being thought that the poor districts 
in which white miners would allow them to work 
w^ould scarce yield that small sum. 

Yet, in spite of all, immigration from China in- 
creased. Few women, but thousands of men annually 
came, and all with the intention of returning to their 
native land, dead or alive. China only can be the 
final resting place of the true Chinaman. He may 
live and die far away ; but his bones must go back to 
his birthplace. Every year ships left, freighted with 
the bones of those who died, not one being allowed to 
have permanent burial on a foreign shore. In San 
11 



162 HISTOKY OF CALIFORNIA. 

Francisco a temple, consecrated to their idols, was 
erected ; certain quarters of the town became espe- 
cially their own, and they were soon as much at home 
as in the streets of Peking or Canton. 

The few Africans that entered the new State were 
less fortunate. Most of them were slaves brought by 
their Southern masters, and leaving them, to search 
for gold, they encountered not only the anger of their 
former owners but the distrust and contempt of all 
classes. 

South Americans, too, were regarded with sus- 
picion, and were early subjected to the insults and 
oppressions of the gangs of unruly spirits that from 
all quarters of the world met in California to carry 
on untrammeled their nefarious callings. 

In San Francisco, as early as the summer of 1849, 
many of these formed themselves into a society called 
"The Hounds." Ostensibly, the purpose of these 
was to protect themselves and American miners from 
foreigners of Spanish extraction, the cheap labor of 
whom interfered with their own prosperity. 

This gang, being duly organized, soon became a 
terror to society, especially to the poor Chileans, 
whose houses they destroyed or robbed upon the 
slightest provocation. Having, one Sunday, torn 



HISTORY OF CALIFORNIA. 1G3 

down the entire Chilean quarter, and shamefully used 
the inhabitants, the respectable people took up the 
matter, and, rapidly forming a vigilance committee, 
first raised an ample sum for the benefit of the suffer- 
ers, and then arrested over twenty of the rioters, and 
confined them aboard the United States ship Warren. 
These were afterwards tried and sentenced to be 
hanged ; but were set free upon the discovery that 
" The Hounds " were as cowardly as vindictive, and 
had, upon the interference of the citizens, disbanded 
and disappeared from the city. 

That year was marked by events that can never be 
equaled in the history of San Francisco. The popu- 
lation increased from two to twenty thousand. The 
first steamships arrived from New York, and smaller 
craft from all parts of the world lay at her wharves. 
Houses sprung up on every hill, yet not fast enough 
to contain all that flocked to them. Fire spread ruins 
on every hand, only to make room for more safe and 
valuable buildings ; and within a few years, San 
Francisco rivaled the cities of the East in magnifi- 
cence and excelled them in wealth. 

Nowhere was business so active. Gold poured into 
its streets from the interior in seemingly endless 
plenty ; and passing thence, brought back men and 



164 HISTORY OF CALIFORNIA. 

stores from every port. The round of eager toil and 
wild pleasure never ceased. Virtue and crime grew 
together, each untrammeled. Churches and school- 
houses sprung up alongside the gambling-house ; the 
voice of the street preacher mingled with the rattling 
of dice; the dead lay in one room, the living reveled 
wildly in the next. Such was life in San Francisco in 
early days : such in every town and hamlet through- 
out the State. 

These were years of mad excitement. Many 
awoke from their delirium ruined in health and pros- 
pects; others, more fortunate, still live to tell the 
marvelous tales of life in the early days of California. 



HISTORY OF CALIFORNIA. 165 



CHAPTER XVII. 

Indian Wars. — Indian Reservations. — The Scenery of California. — 
Description of tlie Yosemite Valley.— Of Napa and other Val- 
leys.— The Big Trees.— Mud Volcanoes.— Geysers or Hot Springs. 
—Caves and Rocks. 

Before the udmission of California into the Union, 
little or no trouble had been experienced from the 
Indians, who were remarkably peaceable in disposition, 
both among themselves and towards all others. In 
1849, it is true, some real or fancied insults from a 
party of explo'rers had been resented, and several 
persons had been attacked and killed. 

Their fears were at that time greatly aroused by 
the rapid influx of whites occasioned by the discov- 
ery of gold, of the value or presence of which they 
had ever appeared ignorant. It has often been re- 
marked, that they never by any chance presented a 
piece of this precious ore to a white man. Curious 
stones, herbs, and fruits they constantly brought, but 
never a piece of gold. Perliaps some instinct led 
them to see in it the weapons for their destruction ; 
and it undoubtedly became so. Their lands, their 



166 HISTORY OF CALIFORNIA. 

rivers, became a prey to the ruthless invaders, and 
they saw with horror every means of support passing 
from them. 

And what had become of the mission Indians ? In 
the south many remained at their old stations, engaged 
contentedly in labor. The vile among them refused 
to work, basked in the sun in hopeless poverty, beg- 
ging for food or a few pence, which would be 
gambled away as soon as won. Others returned to 
their tribes, renouncing their civilization with their 
slavery, content to live on the uncertain product of the 
chase or the nut of the mountain pine. These were 
foremost in their attacks upon settlers. The dainty 
taste of horseflesh they had learned years before, and 
theft and murder were wantonly committed to ob- 
tain it. 

Their depredations were severely punished by the 
whites, and soon a system of warfare was instituted 
and actively maintained. 

In 1850, two hundred men, under the command of 
William Kogers, were sent by the State Government 
against the Indians ; but this force being found insuffi- 
cient, a party of United States troops, under General 
Kearny, were called into service. These having se- 
verely chastised the Indians, no further trouble was 



HISTORY OF CALIFORNIA. 167 

experienced from them for nearly a year, when they 
again became so dangerous that not only means were 
taken for the protection of the settlers, -but measures 
were considered for satisfying the demands of the 
Indians. 

In 1853, the Legislature set aside for their use 
lands in Los Angeles County, and later, in other parts 
of California; but it was found that faw Indians were 
willing to devote themselves to farming or fishing, and 
the reservations were almost untenanted, except in 
times of great scarcity. 

These reservations the Indians held in comparative 
peace until as late as 1858-59, -wiien the white settlers, 
finding gold becoming difficult to obtain, turned their 
attention to farming, and envied the Indians their few 
acres of fertile lands. Taking forcible possession of 
them, they roused the ire of the red men, who in re- 
venge slew their cattle, and brought upon their de- 
voted heads the wrath of the intruders. Terrible 
massacres were the result. Troops were called in, and 
by one means and another the remnant of the Califor- 
nia Indians was brought to a state of subjection ; an 
appropriation of fifty thousand dollars annually made 
to them, and peace once more restored. 

Gradually are the first inhabitants of California 



168 HISTORY OF CALIFORNIA. 

passing away, and perhaps within another generation 
few . if any will be left to tell the story of their 
wrongs. 

The early Indian wars led perhaps as much to the 
exploration of the country as the search for gold. 
The miners followed the course of rivers, while the 
pursuers of Indians turned aside into barren moun- 
tain passes, traversed scorched plains, or waded 
through swamps of tule^ and discovered the thousand 
varied forms of nature that served to beautify the 
great land of the west. 

From the hills of the south they looked upon the 
ocean smiling beneath an almost tropical sun, its 
shores teeming with plenty. Fruitful vineyards, 
groves of oranges and figs, ripened their rich fruits in 
the same field with the hardy northern wheat and 
tasseled maize. Herds of cattle and flocks of sheep 
fed upon the hills where the timid deer still came to 
crop the tender grass. All this beautiful scene of art 
and nature was spread before them in one day ; next 
day nothing but barren wastes of sand would appear, 
and anon the great lakes of sedge, lying black beneath 
the mountain shadows, would rest in impenetrable 
gloom on every hand, appearing as if no living thing 
could harbor there. Yet travelers soon learned that 



HISTORY OF CALIFORNIA. 169 

these darksome lakes were tlic favorite haunts of nu- 
merous water-birds. Wild geese, ducks, mud-hens, 
herons glided through the mesh of tules in countless 
flocks, or fearlessly flew above them. Another day's 
travel, and this scene would also be lost. The 
Indian-hunter would find himself so hio;h amono: 
the Sierra Nevadas that the fruitful vales, the lakes 
of tule^ the silver lines of rivers, would appear as 
mere specks in his eyes. Masses of rock would im- 
pede his way, precipices guard either side of his peril- 
ous path, mountain torrents deafen him with their 
roar, or the solemn grandeur of snow-clad peaks tow- 
ering to the deep blue skies fill his soul with awe. 
These things the Indian-hunters saw perhaps lightly 
and without special wonder, yet they brought tales of 
them to those who for the love of the beautiful alone 
hastened to these favorite haunts of nature and pro- 
claimed to the world the wonders they beheld. 

It was during the Indian wars that the famous 
Yosemite Vallc}^ was discovered. In the year 1851, 
a party of white men, pursuing the Indians into Mari- 
posa County, entered Into what had been considered 
by them their impenetrable retreat, and found in a 
single mountain gorge a scene of unparalleled beauty 
and magnificence. 



170 HISTORY OF CALIFORNIA. 

Following the narrow trail that wound about the 
rough sides of the Sierra Nevada, and gazing upon 
scenery that each moment grew wilder, the adven- 
turers at last descried a narrow chasm parting the 
mountains of ojranite and inclosino^ a miniature world 
of beauty. A river, winding like a silver thread 
through the dell, watered groves of tall trees and 
meadows of luxuriant grass ; while masses of rocks in 
a thousand fantastic shapes stood on every hand, some 
half hidden by waters falling from heights so great 
that they were lost in spray before they could reach 
the bottom of the dell. Descending the precipitous 
path, only just j)assable for the surest-footed horses, 
they entered the vale itself, and in amazement looked 
upward to the mountain tops four thousand feet 
above. Looking northward, they beheld the great 
El Capitan Rock, rising upward nearly four thousand 
feet, gazing grandly upon the two spires of the Cathe- 
dral Rocks farther up the valley ; the mighty Sentinel 
on the east; the Three Brothers bending their heads 
to look upon the tranquil scene at their feet ; and the 
great Yosemite or Cholook Falls that, leaping from 
ledge to ledge of the rocky walls, descend two thou- 
sand six hundred and thirty-four feet. This fall, the 
greatest in the world, is almost eclipsed in beauty, 



HISTORY OF CALIFORNIA. 171 

though not in magnificence, by the Bridal Yeil, which 
hangs like a silver mist at the south, and by the 
exquisitely graceful Vernal Fall, which falls four 
hundred feet over a ledge of rocks at the eastward. 
Again, the palm of beauty is disputed by the Nevada 
Fall, the first grand leap of the Merced River in its 
descent into the valley. 

Grand as were these objects, doubtless their first dis- 
coverers turned, as have their successors, with delight 
to the clear Mirror Lake, which reflects in its bosom 
the rocks and trees that border it. Nearly a mile in 
circumference, it lies like a tiny crystal in the laps of 
the great mountains it reflects, almost laving the feet 
of the most sublime object in the valley — a shaft of 
granite rising from a mass of shattered fragments to 
a height of nearly five thousand feet. 

Who can wonder, with all these grand and awe- 
inspiring objects, standing in the chasm of the moun- 
tains scarce three miles wide and but ten long, only 
to be entered at its extremities, and then only with 
•danger, the Indians believed this retreat secure ? But 
to their enemies they soon discovered nothing seemed 
impossible, and ere long the Yosemite became as open 
to the pleasure-seeker as were the fruitful coast val- 
leys to the herdsman and farmers. 



172 HISTORY OF CALIFORNIA. 

Of these latter valleys, Napa is the largest and most 
noted. It is for the most part clear of timber, and 
possesses a soil of great fertility, and is watered 
throughout its length by the small but beautiful Napa 
River. Other small vales, Sunol, Sonoma, Amador, 
and San Ramon, nestling among the mountains, con- 
trast most vividly their luxuriance of herbage with 
the barren rocks surrounding them. 

But beautiful and productive as are these vales, 
they attract but few visitors in comparison with the 
numbers who yearly flock to the great trees of Mari- 
posa County. 

As nature has seemingly surpassed herself in the 
grandeur and magnitude of the rocks of the Yosemite 
Valley, so, a few miles distant, has she displayed the 
magic of her power in the growth of mammoth ever- 
greens, so vast that one tree alone presents in the dis- 
tance the appearance of a grove. 

Four hundred and twenty-seven of these trees stand 
together, towering nearly to the height of three 
hundred feet, and each measuring from twenty to 
thirty feet in circumference. 

It is difficult at a cursory glance to comprehend the 
immense size of these trees ; it is only by comparison 
that we can understand how far they surpass, if only 



HISTORY OF CALIFORNIA. 173 

in magnitude, the works of man. J. S. Hittell re- 
marks, in his valuable book upon " The Resources of 
California," that " each tree fills him (the spectator) 
with wonder as he looks at it. A glance at one of 
these immense trunks conveys a new idea of the mag- 
nificence of nature ; ' glorious as the universe on 
creation's morn ' is this grove. The Titans and the 
gods fought with such tree-trunks as these for clubs, 
when the attempt was made to carry heaven by storm, 
as recorded in Grecian mythology. The trees are so 
high that you must look twice before you can see 
their tops, and then you must keep on looking before 
you can comprehend their height. The best way to 
see them is to lie down and look up, and remember 
that the spire of New York Trinity Church, which 
is the highest artificial structure in the United States, 
towering far above all the rest of the American me- 
tropolis, though two hundred and eighty-four feet 
high, would be entirely lost to distant view if set 
down among these trees." 

Another grove, the first discovered, is in Calaveras 
County. One of these trees has fallen to the ground, 
and may be ridden through by a man on horseback, to 
the length of seventy-five feet. The stump of another 
formed the floor upon which was printed for a short 



174 HISTORY OF CALIFORNIA. 

time a paper called the Big Tree Bulletin^ and it is 
still used as a platform for dancing or for theatrical 
performances. 

Many of these trees have received names. " Uncle 
Tom's Cabin " was among the earliest christened ; and 
later, many fantastic appellations have been given 
others, while many serve as monuments to men of 
note. 

Strange does it appear to us, that the State of 
California, containing so many of these natural won- 
ders, should have been so long neglected; and that 
their existence should have remained unknown, or at 
least unheeded, by the early settlers ; for they were 
confined to no one portion of the country, but spread 
broad-cast throughout the land. Beautiful vales, 
mammoth trees, mountain cascades, boiling springs, 
and volcanoes of seething steam and mud, casting up 
jets of water and steam with a noise like thunder or 
the explosion of a cannon. 

These volcanoes are found on the Colorado Desert, 
in the southern part of the State, and are formed of 
vast areas of mud, through which the steam seethes in 
great bubbles, or finds its way in sulphurous jets to 
the open air. Lassen County, in the northern part of 
the State, contains illustrations of volcanic action 
even more wonderful. 



HISTORY OF CALIFORNIA. 175 

Another exhibition of the force of internal heat is 
found at the Geysers, in Sonoma County. These 
springs, of which there are hot and cokl within a few 
feet of each other, are said to possess valuable medici- 
nal qualities, as various as their hues and odors. 
These wonderful springs are situated in a canon or 
chasm of the mountains seventeen hundred feet above 
the level of the sea. 

Hundreds of other points of attraction are situated 
within the limits of California. There are masses of 
rocks so like the ruins of old cities that thousands of 
dollars were expended in excavations that it was hoped 
would reveal wealth equal to that of Pompeii. There 
are lakes of borax and sulphur lying thousands of feet 
above the level of the sea ; caves hung with crystals, 
and many of them strewn with the bones of men 
interred within them ages ago. Cataracts there are 
of matchless beauty, breaking the smooth flow of rivers 
once pure as crystal, now turbid with the washings of 
ores that for ages lay unsuspected within their depths. 
Mountains there are, from whose summits, covered and 
almost lost in clouds, may be seen the smiling vales, 
the crystal lakes, the seething springs, tlie jagged 
seams of quartz, the thousand sources of beauty and 
wealth which Nature has given to the State of Califor- 
nia. 



176 HISTORY OF CALIFORNIA. 



CHAPTER XVIII. 

The first Quartz Mill erected.— Other Improvements in Mining.— 
Scheming Politicians.— Scenes in San Francisco.— The Vigi- 
lance Committee established.— Land Claims. 

Almost with regret we turn from the natural 
beauties of the State to chronicle again the deeds of 
those who have thus far made its history. After the 
Indian wars, in which, as we have said before, so 
much was done towards the exploration of the land, 
the attention of the settlers was once more centered 
upon the development of its mineral wealth. 

In 1851, the first quartz mill was erected, for the 
purpose of crushing the solid rock, and separating 
from it the gold it contained. At first, though much 
capital was expended, the attempt was unsuccessful ; 
and it was feared that the prosperity of California 
would cease with the exhaustion of the placer mines. 
Many of these were worked with increased profit by 
the introduction of the hydraulic hose by Edward E. 
Matheson, a native of Connecticut. By this means 
many placer deposits were worked and otherwise 
unobtainable gold secured. Hundreds of miles of 



niSTOIlY OF CALIFORNIA. 177 

ditches were constructed, and water was carried almost 
to the mountain tops for the purpose of working the 
deep placer deposits by the hydraulic process. 

In 1855, the hitherto unsuccessful scheme of work- 
ing quartz was again attempted at Allison's ranch, near 
Grass Valley, where white quartz of great riches was 
discovered. This trial proving remunerative, several 
other mills were erected, those which had been built 
some years before began work in earnest, and a new 
era of mining dawned. 

Wealth still continued to pour down from the moun- 
tains in a resistless tide to the sea-port, where congre- 
gated an ever-increasing throng of adventurers. 

Most prominent among these were reckless politi- 
cians, who, discarded from their own States, attem^Dted 
to rule in California. 

As early as 1850 their unwarrantable proceedings 
had induced the citizens of San Francisco to assemble 
en masse, and protest against them. A committee of 
five hundred was at last appointed to present to the 
Mayor and Common Council of the city the will of the 
people ; and to advise or compel them to decrease 
the exorbitant salaries they had voted themselves ; but 
their proceedings were arrested by the third great fire 
which had visited the city within the year, and which 

12 



178 HISTORY OF CALIFORNIA. 

within a single night destroyed almost the entire 
business section, and reduced hundreds from wealth 
to penury. 

This calamity for a short time diverted the atten- 
tion of San Franciscans from public affairs, and theft 
and fraud ran riot. 

The rapid influx of immigrants, of which thirty-six 
thousand are estimated to have entered San Francisco 
in this single year ; the loose state of public morals 
and of government — rendered San Francisco a perfect 
pandemonium. The sun rose upon vessels from every 
port discharging their cargoes of miscellaneous wares 
and of people. All day it beheld the masses of hu- 
manity crowding the long wharves, filling the streets, 
struggling, battling, drinking, and gambling wildly ; 
looking with unpitying eyes on a corpse covered with 
blood, joking with the murderer, or hurrying him 
with frantic execrations to the jail. And at night the 
scene was scarcely less strange. Men wandered up 
and down the sand hills, eagerly seeking shelter; or 
gathered in the brilliantly lighted saloons, or, perhaps 
beggered and forlorn, lay apart thinking of home or 
breathing out their last sighs unheeded. 

This was the daily and nightly life of San Francis- 
co and of the distant mining camps. Still, withal 



HISTORY OF CALIFORNIA. 170 

there was some good in California ; her treasures were 
not all squandered in vice. Among so many, it would 
have been strange if no men of wisdom and worth 
could be found. There were a few ; and these became 
the saviors of San Francisco. 

Early in 1851 the glaring abuses of the city govern- 
ment again attracted attention ; and not even the ex- 
citement occasioned by rumors of discoveries of great 
value at " Gold Bluffs " and elsewhere could turn the 
public from their local duties. 

Robberies and murders were far too frequent, and too 
openly winked at by those in authority, to admit of 
longer delay. 

Over five thousand people collected around the City 
Hall, declaring that murder should no longer go un- 
punished. For thirty-six hours the excitement con- 
tinued, and the mob continually increased in numbers* 
A jury was impaneled, and several men were arrest- 
ed, tried, and sentenced to be hanged. They were, 
however, suffered to escape. 

Two or three months later, the Vigilance Committee 
again took the power into their own hands. Daily 
murders, robberies, and incendiarisms they considered 
demanded their interference with the slow and lenient 
process of the law. 



180 HISTORY OF CALIFORNIA. 

Nearly the entire number of respectable men in San 
Francisco were members of this committee. They 
have been universally declared public benefactors. 
So far from being an undisciplined mob thirsting for 
blood, they were a regularly organized band, and con- 
ducted their proceedings with a most wonderful de- 
gree of moderation. 

The first man executed by them was a hardened 
criminal named Jenkins ; the next, an escaped convict 
named Stewart ; and the two others who suffered at 
that time were of similar character. 

To show the laxity of government during this time, 
it is only necessary to say that nowhere was justice 
administered by the appointed authorities. Lynch- 
law prevailed throughout the State. In every mining 
camp were Vigilance Committees. Miners revenged 
the deaths of their comrades, who were shot or stabbed 
on the slightest provocation or in drunken affrays, by 
hanorinor the murderers to the nearest tree. The un- 
popular gambler, the stealer of gold-dust, and the in- 
cendiary were awarded the same fate. Necessary as 
were these extreme measures, they were no less terri- 
ble ; and contributed greatly to swell the list of those 
deeds of blood which have made this portion of the 
history of California almost odious. 



HISTORY OF CALIFORNIA. 181 

In the city of Sacramento and other towns many 
troubles arose from the disputes between new settlers, 
called squatters, and those who had received grants 
of land from the Mexican government — the former 
refusing to acknowledge the validity of Mexican 
titles, and the latter to renounce them. In August, 
1850, serious riots occurred at Sacramento ; John A. 
Sutter claiming the site, it having been his fort, " New 
Helvetia," and the squatters refusing to leave the 
land or pay for it. 

The courts decided in favor of Sutter's claims ; but 
the squatters armed themselves and maintained their 
ground, and in the struggles that succeeded a num- 
ber of persons were killed and wounded. 

These disputed titles have ever been a source of 
litigation in the towns of California. Cabins were 
built upon land unvalued and unclaimed by the. orig- 
inal possessors, until the rapid growth of the town 
made it of consideration, when suddenly the title of 
its occupant would be disputed, often by four or 
five parties in succession. 



182 HISTORY OF CALIFORNIA. 



CHAPTER XIX. 

Filibusterism.— Walker.— Improvements in SanPrancisco.— Murder 
of James King of William.— Second Reign of the Vigilance 
Committee. 

In 1853 a fresh cause for excitement found its way 
from the Atlantic States, and spread like wildfire 
along the Pacific slope. 

A project which had been set afloat by certain pol- 
iticians, for the annexation of a portion of Mexico to 
the United States, found among the reckless adven- 
turers in California many earnest supporters. These, 
ever craving excitement, needed but a slight pretext 
to induce them to undertake any daring enterprise. 
That there were mines in Sonora not owned by the 
American Government was considered by them suf- 
ficient reason for making a raid upon Mexican soil, and 
overthrowing a government of states and provinces. 

These views were hastily promulgated by William 
Walker, one of the editors of the San Francisco 
Herald. This man, whose ambition seemed to be to 
make himself famous at any cost, was born in Nash- 
ville, Tennessee, in the year 1824. He was well edu- 



HISTORY OF CALIFOKNIA. 183 

cated, had graduated in medicine both at home and in 
Paris, had studied law, and had been a journalist; 
seemingly satisfied with no pursuit until the idea of 
conquering Sonora entered his mind. 

In a short time he raised money enough (on scrip 
which he issued, and which was to be redeemed as 
soon as the new government was established in Sonora) 
to fit out a small vessel, which was, however, seized by 
General Hitchcock, commanding the United States 
troops, and soon after released by other officials, who 
were delighted at ridding California, by any means, of 
the doubtful characters that infested it. 

Procuring a second vessel, Walker with forty-six 
companions proceeded to La Paz, in Lower California. 
This peninsula they declared an independent republic, 
fought a battle with the natives with no loss to them- 
selves, and then sailed up the coast to Ensenada, a 
short distance from the boundary line of California. 

Tales of the adventures of Walker and his men, 
proclaiming his success, flew like wildfire from town 
to town and from camp to camp. Hundreds of ad- 
venturers, disappointed at the mines and longing for 
excitement, hastened to join him. Many were rejected, 
and those who went suffered so severely from hunger, 
sickness, and other causes, that they relinquished the 



184 HISTORY OF CALIFORNIA. 

project of conquering Sonora, and surrendered them- 
selves to the United States troops. 

The leaders were tried at the United States Dis- 
trict Court of San Francisco, but escaped by paying 
a slight fine ; and a few months later Walker was 
again ready for action, and in the spring of 1855 
sailed with sixty or seventy followers to Nicaragua, to 
assist a revolutionary party. Being successful in his 
first battles, he appointed himself Dictator of the new 
republic, and carried measures with a high hand, until 
an insurrection among the natives, fomented by the 
Vanderbilt company, took place ; when Walker was 
forced to surrender, with sixteen of his officers, to the 
United States authorities. This noted filibuster en-^ 
joyed but a brief career. Three years later he v/as 
captured while attempting a raid into Honduras, and 
shot at Truxillo in 1860. 

Although some noted desperadoes left California 
with this man, yet, unfortunately, enough remained to 
keep society in a constant state of ferment in 1856, and 
by their deeds of murder and crime called into action 
again the powers of the Vilgilance Committee, which 
for five years had lain dormant. 

These five years had produced a great change in 
San Francisco. Many of the surrounding sand hills 



HISTORY OF CALIFORNIA. 185 

had been leveled, portions of the bay had been filled 
up, and well-graded streets had taken the place of 
lanes of mud and filth. Handsome dwellings stood in 
the place of tents and shanties ; and ladies were often 
seen, giving an air of refinement to the still rough ex- 
periences of California life. 

But, unfortunately, these vast improvements were 
overshadowed by a certain class of the community, 
who openly frequented the gilded saloons, where gam- 
bling, drunkenness, and murder were wantonly and 
shamelessly carried on. 

Their reign was one of terror. In the year 1855, 
five hundred and thirty-eight persons died by their 
hands. 

The law was powerless, throttled in the grasp of 
the basest men, who, by controlling the political con- 
ventions, procuring false votes and destroying true 
ones, put many dishonest men in office. 

Upright citizens beheld these deeds with horror, and 
one man at last found courage to denounce them. 
This was James King of William, one of the editors of 
the Bulletin^ who having failed as a banker during the 
financial crisis of 1855, gave up to his creditors all his 
resources, and as a member of the Press set himself to 
the work of correcting public abuses. 



186 HISTORY OF CALIFORNIA. 

By exposing them, he rendered himself a favorite 
with the better class of the community, and odious to 
the swindlers, thieves, and ballot-stuffers. 

By one of the latter, whom he had denounced, he 
was shot, in the most public part of the city. 

Terrible was the excitement that followed. Know- 
ing well that no justice could be expected from the 
court, a large number of the people formed themselves 
into a Vigilance Committee, and within thirty-six 
hours after King was shot twenty-five hundred of the 
best names in the city were enrolled in their books. 

King lingered six days, and his death was at last an- 
nounced by the tolling of bells and the appearance of 
crape on almost every door. Two days later he was 
buried, and before the mourners returned from the 
cemetery his murder was avenged — James P. Casey, 
and one Cora, of the same ilk, hanged side by side. 

Having once taken justice into their own hands, the 
Vigilance Committee determined on an entire reforma- 
tion of the depraved government. They arrested and 
confined at their headquarters several desperadoes. 
One of these, named " Yankee Sullivan," committed 
suicide, and two others were hanged. 

For three months the Vigilance Committee ruled 
the city, preserving order, and striking terror to evil- 



HISTORY OF CALIFORNIA. 187 

doers. Two weeks after its organization, it was called 
upon by Governor Johnson to disband. San Francis- 
co was declared in a state of insurrection, and all men 
liable to military duty were called upon to report to 
Major-General William T. Sherman. 

The Committee still continued to act, and assumed 
many doubtful powers in appropriating to themselves 
army and navy stores ; and made decided resistance 
to the State authorities. Yet, withal, they acted with 
great moderation, and after banishing a number of the 
most prominent ruffians, quietly disbanded. 

Perhaps in no other place could an organization of 
the people — masses of men controlled by no laws, save 
the few rules hastily adopted by themselves without 
much consideration or care — have carried on for so 
Ions: a time so difficult a work with moderation and 
justice. True, all good influences obtaining in the 
place were brought to bear upon them. All the Pro- 
testant clergy save one approved the measures taken, 
and it was but in few cases that disapprobation was 
shown by respectable citizens. Even the Government, 
after the restoration of the State arms, said little about 
the matter ; and troubled only by a few suits brought 
against them by aggrieved parties, the Committee was 
left in peace to enjoy the reform they had wrought. 



188 HISTORY OF CALIFORNIA. 



CHAPTER XX. 

Establishment of Schools and Churches.— Benevolent Societies. — 
Evidences of "Wealth.— Political Troubles.— Noted Duels.— The 
Loyalty of California. 

Strange does it seem, that while society throughout 
the State was ripening for the rule of Vigilance Com- 
mittees, schools and churches were everywhere spring- 
ing up. The former were not in great numbers, for 
children were scarce, few families having, even as late 
as 1856, settled permanently in California. There 
were, however, at that time in San Francisco church- 
es of all denominations — the proofs of the successful 
labors of the itinerant preachers whose voices, years 
before, rang in the streets in competition with the songs 
of the drunkard and the click of dice. 

Protestants, Catholics, Jews, and Buddhists had their 
temples within this cosmopolitan city ; and, better 
still, followed the precepts of their various forms of re- 
ligion by establishing societies for the relief of their 
poor and oppressed. 

Among the first and most noted of these was the 
Society of the California Pioneers, which was com- 



HISTORY OF CALIFORNIA. 189 

posed of the earliest settlers, and devoted to the bene- 
fit of their descendants. Lodges of Free Masons and 
Odd Fellows were soon scattered throughout the coun- 
try, and these, with Bible societies and other Christian 
associations, and the Protestant and Catholic Orphan 
Asylums, early provided for indigent Christians ; while 
Jews maintained benevolent societies, and even the 
Chinese provided means for the support of their sick 
and the transportation of their dead to the land of their 
birth. 

Gradually the mad excitement of 1849 and 1850 
gave way to better things. This was shown not only 
in the erection of churches and schools, and the estab- 
lishment of benevolent societies, but by the better 
class of public amusements which were introduced. 
First of all, a few concerts were given, and these 
being well attended, theatrical representations soon 
followed. Gambling, though openly continued, lost 
ground in the attractions of many excellent artistes^ 
and in 1853 a very handsome theater was erected in 
San Francisco ; and the drama took the place of de- 
praved amusements. 

Ten years from the date of the first discovery of 
gold, California exhibited many evidences of culture 
and refinement. The constant stream of wealth flow- 



190 HISTORY OF CALIFORNIA. 

ing from her soil called hither the luxuries of the world, 
and induced her citizens to emulate their eastern rivals 
in sumptuous living. New-comers were astonished at 
the progress of civilization on the once barren coast. 
Not only was it shown in the growth of cities and 
towns, but in the hundreds of well-stocked farms that 
lay in the valleys, annually producing food enough to 
support the population of the State, and all the fruits 
of both tropical and temperate climes. The manu- 
facture of wines became an important branch of in- 
dustry in California, and many choice varieties are 
now exported. Mills for the manufacture of woolen 
goods have long been in successful operation ; while 
both silk and cotton are produced and woven with 
profit. 

The commercial career of California has ever been 
marked with most signal success. Unfortunately, po- 
litical troubles for many years lay heavily upon her ; 
though many good men attempted to battle with the 
gamesters and adventurers who ran for office and 
electioneered for votes. 

By these, life was held to be of little consequence, 
and duels were often the sequels of discussion. In 
1859, one of the most notable duels on record took 
place. The combatants were Chief Justice Terry of 



HISTORY OF CALIFORNIA. 191 

the Supreme Court, who had figured conspicuously in 
the doings of the Vigilance Committee three years 
before, and the Hon. David C. Broderick, who had for 
many years occupied a prominent place among the 
politicians of California. The latter was killed ; and 
a handsome monument has been erected to his honor 
at Lone Mountain, the principal cemetery of San 
Francisco. 

This deed created much attention and animadversion, 
and only one political duel has succeeded it ; and at 
present, for no reason is this horrible practice consid- 
ered admissible. 

In 1860 took place the most important political con- 
test in which California ever participated. The 
Democrats, who had long held the field, were beaten 
by the Eepublicans, and Abraham Lincoln received a 
plurality over Douglas and Breckenrldge, plainly dis- 
closing the fact, that though Southerners had long 
controlled the politics of California, they had not 
subverted the loyal hearts of her people. 

Triumphantly this was proven a few months later, 
when the cry "To arms 'gainst traitors," echoed like 
thunder from East to West. California's best men 
responded to the cry, and the names of Sherman and 
Halleck are enough to prove her loyalty, and the deeds 
of her regiments bravely seconded it. 



192 HISTORY OF CALIFORNIA. 

Yet, at first, many fears were entertained that the 
" Golden State " would go with the Confederacy. Al- 
bert Sydney Johnson was her military commander, 
and his tendencies were toward secession. Early in 
1861, he was relieved from duty, and immediately 
joined the Southern cause, as did many other public 
men. Notwithstanding this, the people were true, and 
during the four years of war contributed nobly, in 
men and money, to the national cause. 



HISTORY OF CALIFORNIA. 193 



CHAPTER XXI. 

The New Almaden.— The Mining Excitement of 1803.— The Silver 
Wines of Nevada.— Mining Speculation and its Effects.— Dis- 
covery of the Big Bonanza. — Decline in Mining. 

In the first year of the war dawned a new era in 
mining. Silver, copper, and coal divided attention 
with gold and quicksilver; ricli mines of the latter 
have long been successfully worked, that of the New 
Almaden being the most noted. For some years the 
workinjT^ of gold mines had been attended with such 
vast expense that its profits had sensibly declined. 
Hence the discoveries made of other ores produced a 
mania for speculation never equaled, even during the 
early years of gold-raining, when the slightest rumor 
caused men to wander hundreds of miles over moun- 
tain trails or sodden river-banks. 

In 1863, prospectors scoured the State, sending glow- 
ing accounts of their discoveries to the cities, and 
inducing thousands of credulous persons to invest their 
all in stocks which in the majority of cases never 
yielded an iota of profit to the luckless possessor. 

At that time the silver mines of Nevada attracted 
13 



194 HISTORY OF CALIFORNIA. 

great attention and absorbed much Californian capital. 
Idaho and Oregon, too, received a part. Yet, perhaps 
none was lost ; as all the treasure they produced passed 
through California, slightly increasing the amount of 
her exports over that of many preceding years, forty- 
six million, seventy-one thousand, nine hundred and 
twenty dollars' worth of treasure being shipped — al- 
most equaling the amount produced in the early and 
flush days of mining. 

The development of vein or lode mining, more es- 
pecially on the Comstock in Nevada, inaugurated an 
era of speculation in mining properties which central- 
ized in San Francisco. Stock boards were organized 
there, and mining shares systematically bought and 
sold. All classes in the community indulged in this 
mining speculation, which enabled some j^ersons to ac- 
cumulate colossal fortunes, while a great many were 
hopelessly ruined. Every new discovery of ore in the 
raining districts tributary to San Francisco gave new 
life to this spirit of stock-gambling. The discovery of 
an immense body of rich ore in the California and 
Consolidated mines on the Comstock Lode, in 1874, 
gave it an extraordinary impetus. This great ore 
body was pojmlarly called the " big bonanza " ; and 
the four men who owned the majority of the shares 



HISTORY OF CALIFORNIA. l'.)5 

represented in these two mines at the time of the dis- 
covery received the name of the "Bonanza firm.*' 
This firm consisted of James C. Flood, AVilliam S. 
O'Brien, J. W. Mackay, and J. G. Fair. The " big 
bonanza " made these fortunate men immensely 
wealthy. Flood and O'Brien soon afterward estab- 
lished the Bank of Nevada, in San Francisco, with a 
paid-up capital of ^10,000,000, which was at the time 
the largest amount of capital invested in any one bank 
in the United States. 

Speculation in mining stocks reached the climax in 
1875, with the failure of the Bank of California, on 
August 25th of that year, and the death of its Presi- 
dent, William C. Ralston. The rapid decline in the 
yield of the mines on the Comstock Lode reduced the 
prices of mining shares to a nominal figure, and stock- 
gambling was practically at an end. Those persons 
who had capital sought other investments. Manufac- 
tures and other industries multiplied. More attention 
was given to the development of the agricultural re- 
sources of the State. The area of soil under cultiva- 
tion was increased. Co-operative colonies were estab- 
lished in the central and southern counties. The fame 
of some of these co-operative colonics has extended far 
and wide, owing to the rapidity of their growth and 



196 HISTORY OF CALIFORNIA. 

the wonderful character of their horticultural products. 
New vineyards were planted. Wine-making was de- 
veloped. Fruit raising and canning grew into impor- 
tant industries. Raisin-making was introduced and 
made splendid progress. The great plains, Avhich gave 
pasturage only to droves of Spanish cattle during the 
earlier years of the State's history, were converted into 
wheat fields. Commerce with other countries was en- 
larged, and an era of great and enduring prosperity 
was opened. 



HISTORY OP CALIFORNIA. 197 



CHAPTER XXII. 

steamship Lines to China and other Countries. - Transconti- 
nental Railroads. -The Chinese Question. -The Hoodlum Riots. 
-The Pick-handle Brigade.-The Kearney Anti-Chinese Agita- 
tion.-The Saud Lot.-Unsuccessful Efforts to Suppress the Agi- 
tation. -Kearney's Intluence.-Organization of the Working- 
men's Party.-Adoption of a New Constitution .-End of the 
Agitation. 

On the 1st of January, 1867, the pioneer of a line 
of steamships owned by the Pacific Mail Steamship 
Company sailed from San Francisco for Yokohama and 
Hongkong. Since then another company, known as 
the Occidental and Oriental Steamship Company, has 
been employing a similar line of large and swift steam- 
ers in the same trade. The Pacific Mail Company also 
maintains a line of steamers between San Francisco 
and Australia, touching at Honolulu, Hawaiian 
Islands. In the trade with the latter kingdom, a 
fleet of sailing vessels is also employed. Lines of fast- 
sailing packets also carry on commercial intercourse 
with the islands of the South Pacific. A line of steam- 
ships running to and from Panama, and one running 
to and from Guaymas, Mexico, are maintained ; and a 



198 HISTORY OP CALIFORNIA. 

vast fleet of sailing^ and steam vessels is eno^ao-ed in the 
domestic coast trade, which includes the ports of Ore- 
gon, Washington Territory, British Columbia, Alaska, 
the Fur Seal Islands, the codfisheries of the Chouma- 
gin Islands, and the whale fisheries of the Arctic 
Ocean. 

In 1869, the Central Pacific and Union Pacific rail- 
roads were finished, and California enjoyed transcon- 
tinental communication with the Atlantic seaboard. 
Since then railroads have been extended through all 
the great valleys in the State, and from almost the 
Oregon border to the boundary line of Lower Califor- 
nia. In the early part of 1883 the Southern Pacific 
Railroad, which traverses the great Colorado desert, 
crosses Arizona, passes through New Mexico, and 
traverses the State of Texas, was completed to New 
Orleans, and trains now run direct to that place from 
San Francisco. 

The establishment of the steamship lines to China 
and the completion of the Central Pacific Railroad 
were not unmixed blessings. They brought with them 
unexpected evils. They were the direct means of a 
second crusade against the Chinese. The Central Pa- 
cific Railroad was built largely by Chinese laborers. 
When that great enterprise was finished, these labor- 



HISTORY OF CALIFORNIA. 199 

ers sought other occupations. Tliey drifted naturally 
into the trades, many of which needed a species of 
cheap labor to give them a foothold, and enable them 
to compete with the products of tlie Eastern States, 
with which the railroad had brought them into direct 
competition. The immigration of Chinese was also 
maintained and encouraged by the Pacific Mail Steam- 
ship Company. It soon became excessive. White la- 
bor began to be crowded to the wall. The trades 
were practically closed against the rising generation of 
Californians. Chinese laundries and domestics threat- 
ened also two of the legitimate occupations of women. 
The first vigorous protest against the continuance of 
Chinese Immigration was in the outbreak of what was 
known as the " Hoodlum riots " in San Francisco, In 
July, 1877, which culminated in the burning of several 
laundries and one of the city's wharves. The majority 
of those engaged In these lawless proceedings were 
unemployed youths, led and Inspired by vicious and 
dangerous men. The community was greatly agitated 
over the outbreak. A sense of Insecurity pervaded it. 
To suppress the " Hoodlums," a " Citizens' Safety 
Committee" was organized, having as its leaders some 
of the men who had fin-ured in the Vio;Ilance Commlt- 
tee of 1856. Over six thousand persons were enrolled, 



200 HISTORY OF CALIFORNIA. 

sworn in, and armed with firearms or clubs, as special 
policemen. The clubs consisted largely of shortened 
pick-handles, and the corps was popularly dubbed the 
" Pick-handle Brigade." One of the peculiarities of 
the " Hoodlum riots " was that nil the acts of lawless- 
ness were committed under the cover of niglit. The 
city was consequently districted by the leaders of the 
Citizens' Safety Committee, and the Pick-handle Brig- 
ade was detailed in companies to patrol it through 
the night. These vigorous measures soon restored 
order and quiet. 

Shortly after the suppression of the Hoodlum 
Riots, the anti-Chinese agitation was revived in San 
Francisco, under the leadership of a drayman named 
Denis Kearney. Kearney had served in the Pick- 
handle Brigade. He at once commanded attention as 
an agitator by the violence of his harangues, which 
seemed to suit the temper of the unemployed, and to 
meet the exigencies of the times. Thousands listened 
to his speeches. He selected as his stamping-ground an 
unoccupied area in front of the New City Hall. This 
area became famous as the "Sand Lot." At first, 
Kearney's " Sand Lot " speeches were directed against 
life and property. Those who employed Chinese in 
any capacity were his targets. The raih-oad mana- 



HISTORY OB^ CALIFORNIA. 201 

gers and the Pacific Mail Steamship Company were 
the principal objects of his tirades. He was fre- 
quently arrested on charges of disturbing the peace 
and threats against persons and property. But the 
arm of justice seemed paralyzed. No jury would 
convict. Kearney figured in the role of a political 
martyr, and suddenly became a hero. He wielded 
absolute power with his followers; they yielded abso- 
lute submission to his dictum. He paraded the streets 
at the head of a procession of unemployed men. He 
invaded the mayor's office, and demanded work for his 
followers at $1 per day — a demand which was, in the 
following winter, complied with in a rather unusual 
way, namely, by the improvement of Golden Gate 
Park, with a " One-dollar-a-day Fund," organized by 
the voluntary contributions of generous citizens "for 
the employment of the unemployed." He broke up 
all public meetings held in opposition to him. He 
shaped the movement he had started Into an organized 
form. He formed a military company, called the 
Kearney Guards, which elected him a Lieutenant-Gen- 
eral ! He established ward clubs throughout the city, 
makino; and unmakinor their officers as it suited his 
pleasure. With these clubs he created a new polit- 
ical organization, to which he gave the name of the 



202 HISTORY OF CALIFORNIA. 

" Workingmen's Party." Its motto was, '' The Chi- 
nese must go." The party spread over the State. It 
held a State Convention, with Denis Kearney as its 
president. It became powerful enough in a brief time 
to elect a Mayor in San Francisco, and to frame and 
adopt a new Constitution for the State, in which the 
suppression of Chinese cheap labor was the leading 
feature. But it failed to elect a Governor. The anti- 
Chinese provisions in the new Constitution were 
broken down by the Federal Courts ; the immigration 
of Chinese was greatly reduced; and the subject of 
Chinese restriction was taken up by Congress. There 
seemed to be no further use for the Workingmen's 
Party, and it was broken up. Denis Kearney was 
sent to jail ; he lost his influence, and after his release 
was compelled to return to his dray. The movement 
did some good, in so far as it was instrumental in 
bringing the Chinese-cheap-labor question into promi- 
nence, but the violent and communistic temper dis- 
played while it held sway materially retarded the 
progress of the State. Capitalists became timid and 
temporarily left; private improvements were discon- 
tinued ; there was no industrial growth ; and a feeling 
of feverish uncertainty prevailed. With the destruc- 
tion by the courts of the communistic principles which 



HISTORY OF CALIFORNIA. 203 

had found a place in the new Constitution, and the 
expiration of the Kearney movement, public confi- 
dence was restored, trade revived, public and private 
improvements were renewed, and industrial prosperity 
and political quiet were restored. 



204 HISTORY OF CALIFORNIA. 



CHAPTER XXIII. 

Calls to Arms.— The Amador War.— The Modoc War.— Massacre of 
the Peace Commissioners.— Captain Jack and his Confederates 
Captured and Hanged. 

After the Indian troubles of -1858-59, the State 
had a long era of peace. There was no call to arms 
until 1871, when a disagreement occurred between the 
owners of the Amador mine, at Sutter Creek, Amador 
County, and the Miners' Union. The mine is situated 
on the Mother Lode, has been always considered one 
of the most valuable gold quartz mines in the State, 
and gave employment at that period to a large num- 
ber of men. Being unable to obtain such redress to 
their grievances as they deemed just and reasonable, 
the Union men employed in the mine struck. Then 
followed a period of unrest in the community; intimida- 
tion was in the air, and it was deemed necessary that 
the non-Union men should receive military protection. 
The militia was consequently ordered to the scene 
of the strike. The First Regiment of the National 
Guard, Colonel W. H. L. Barnes commanding, of San 
Francisco, was for a time quartered at Sutter Creek, 



HISTORY OF CALIFORNIA. 205 

preserving the peace of the community and protecting 
the property of the Amador Gold-mining Company. 
It is very probable that the gravity of the situation 
was greatly aggravated for stock-jobbing purposes. 
As a matter of fact, almost all the shares in the mine 
very soon found their way into the hands of a few 
persons. These shares had been previously held by a 
large number of persons, as one of the most reliable 
securities in the market. After many weeks, satisfac- 
tory arrangements were made between the mine owners 
and the Miners' Union, work in the mine was resumed, 
and the militia was withdrawn. "The Amador 
War," as it was facetiously called, was over; the 
troops marched up into the Sierra foothills and back 
again without firing a shot. The campaign was to the 
militia men a prolonged picnic. But shortly after the 
withdrawal of the militia, another rupture occurred 
between the mine owners and the Union men. This 
time two men who had figured prominently in these 
factional disturbances were killed. The shedding of 
blood brought both sides to their senses. A perma- 
nent peace was quickly made, and the beautiful foot- 
hill town of Sutter Creek was no more disturbed. 

The year 1873 witnessed another Indian, war. The 
scene was on the Oregon border, about fifty-three 
miles northeast of Yreka, Siskiyou County, and the 



206 HISTORY OF CALIFORNIA. 

tribe engaged was known as Modocs. They were led 
by a chief known to the whites by the sobriquet of 
" Captain Jack," a renegade Link River Indian. The 
tribe seems to have been made up of renegades. Schon- 
chin John, Curly-head Doctor, Bogus Charley, Boston 
Charley, Hooker Jim, Scar-face Charley, Shacknasty 
Jim, Steamboat Frank, Rock Dave, Big Joe, and 
Curly Jack were names of some of the blood-thirsty 
villains then most influential in the tribe. They occu- 
pied a place on the Oregon and California border, 
known as the Lava Beds, owing to its volcanic origin. 
This desolate, rocky, and cavernous region was a nat- 
ural stronghold, and in it they intrenched. The Mo- 
docs claimed to have a grievance against the whites 
dating as far back as 1852, when Captain Ben Wright 
gathered the warriors of the tribe together, under the 
j^retense of holding a peace conference, and then mas- 
sacred them in cold blood. There were reservation 
disputes and other grievances against the United States 
Government, which were employed by Captain Jack 
and his associates as excuses for committing cold- 
blooded murders and depredations on the property of 
white settlers by the wholesale. It became necessary, 
in the beginning of 1873, to commence a war of retri- 
bution a«jainst these Modocs. The first enorajrement 
was held on the 17th of January, 1873. On that day 



HISTORY OF CALIFORNIA. 207 

four hundred men, consisting of California and Oregon 
volunteers, and regulars of the United States Army, 
commanded by General Frank Wlicaton, entered tlie 
Lava Beds to storm the Modoc stronghold. They 
were opposed by fifty-three Modocs, according to one 
of the best authorities on the subject. Thirty-five 
re«2:ulars and volunteers fell in that eno^accement, but 
not a Modoc was slain or wounded. Subsequently, a 
Peace Commission was appointed by the authorities at 
Washington, which consisted of General Canby, Rev. 
Eleazer Thomas, D. D., a Methodist minister, and A. 
B. Meacham. The first-named two were treacherous- 
ly murdered by Captain Jack and other leading Mo- 
docs, and Mr. Meacham was left on the field for dead. 
He however subsequently recovered. For several 
months the Modocs carried on the war successfully, 
but it was finall}^ brought to a close by General Jef- 
ferson C. Davis, in May, 1873. Captain Jack, Schon- 
chin. Black Jim, and Boston Charley were hanged 
for their crimes at Fort Klamath, October 3, 1873. 
Barncho and Slo-lux were consigned to Fort Alcatraz 
for life, and the rest of the tribe, consisting of thirty- 
nine men, fifty-four women, and sixty children, were 
taken to Quaw Paw Agency, Indian Territory. Thus 
ended one of the most extraordinary Indian campaigns 
in the history of the country. 



208 HISTORY OF CALIFORNIA. 



CHAPTER XXIV. 

Development of Wheat-growing.— Wlieat Exports.— Scenes in tlie 
Valleys and on the Rivers.— Present Insignificance of Mining.— 
Hydraulic Mining.— Effects on Valley Farms.— " Slickens."— 
Litigation. 

For many years after the discovery of gold, very 
little attention was given to agricultural pursuits in 
California. All of those who flocked to the State 
in those days were gold-hunters. No one had the 
time, if the inclination, to experiment in the cultiva- 
tion of the soil. In fact, there were very few persons, 
if any, who really believed then that the soil was 
capable of yielding profitable returns to the farmer. 
Stock-raising was practically the only pastoral pur- 
suit engaged in. And yet in the brief period of thir- 
ty years California developed into one of the most 
important wheat-growing regions in the world. The 
earliest exports of wheat took place in the year 1855, 
when a total of eighty-two thousand four hundred and 
thirteen bags was shipped from San Francisco. Near- 
ly one-half of it was shipped to New York. On 
December 2, 1860, the ship Winged Arrow took a 
cargo of wheat and flour to England. Since that 



HISTORY OF CALIFORNIA. 209 

time the cultivation of wheat has been carried to so 
great an extent, that in the harvest year of 1881-82, 
1,239,000 tons of wheat were sent out of the State, 
659 vessels being employed in carrying it. This 
progress has not been uninterrupted. Seasons of 
drought, which have been, however, infrequent, have 
caused, in some years, short crops. But even then 
imperfect tillage had much to do with the failure of a 
harvest. It was the practice of the early California 
farmer to merely skim the surface of the rich soil with 
his gang-plows, scatter his seed broadcast, and imper- 
fectly harrow it. Even this was not done until the 
rainy season had well set in. If the rainfall was 
abundant, he harvested a large crop ; if light, he got 
none at all, the grain withering before it headed out. 
In later years, the soil has been more carefully cultivat- 
ed, and the California farmer looks forward each year 
with as absolute a certainty of harvesting a crop as 
does the farmer of the Eastern States. At the close 
of the harvest each year, it is an interesting sight to 
the traveler through the great wheat-growing valleys 
to behold the long rows of sacked wheat stacked 
alongside the railroad track at every station he passes ; 
while long trains laden w^th wheat are constantly 
seen moving toward the bay of San Francisco. x\nd 
on the waters of the Sacramento and San Joaquin 

14 



210 HISTOKY OF CALIFORNIA. 

rivers, moving in the same direction, may be seen 
flotillas of wheat barges, towed by odd-looking stern- 
wheel steamers, which are likewise loaded down to 
their guards with grain. On the shores of the bay — 
at Benicia, Port Costa, Vallejo, Oakland, and San 
Francisco — deep-water ships are moored at all sea- 
sons of the year, taking wheat cargoes on board. 

Mining has dwindled into comparative insignificance. 
The total yield of the gold mines of California has of 
late years been under $20,000,000 per annum. Most 
of this is extracted from the auriferous gravel deposits 
of the Sierra, by the process of hydraulic mining — a 
process of gravel mining which has almost altogether 
substituted the old form of sluicino^ and drift mining. 
In hydraulic mining, immense bodies of water are 
used under great pressure to break down and wash off 
the deep gravel beds containing the precious metal. 
The water is conducted to the mines in long canals 
and flumes, from natural and artificial reservoirs in the 
heart of the Sierra. From these canals it is distrib- 
uted through the mines in great pipes, like the large 
water mains of a city. At the end of the pipe-line is 
a machine called a " monitor," resembling a large can- 
non, which moves on a socket-joint, and from the small 
end of which the water emerges like a solid shaft of 
phininnr pilver. Directed a^rainst a bank a hundred 



HISTORY OF CALIFORNIA. 211 

yards off, this shaft of water will toss about immense 
bowlders as if they were so many pebbles. Perhaps a 
better idea of the capacity of these monitors may be 
obtained when it is said that six of them discharge 
a larger volume of water than it takes to supply the 
wants of the great city of London. And many of the 
larger hydraulic mines employ that number of moni- 
tors during that season of the year when water is 
most abundant. 

Hydraulic mining has been a source of great profit 
to those engaged in it. But the enormous quantity of 
earth swept into the river-beds from the hydraulic 
mines has been the cause of much damage to the farm- 
ers occupying the rich valley bottoms, owing to the de- 
posit of a great depth of unproductive sediment during 
periods of high flood. To this sediment has been giv- 
en the peculiar name of " slickens," which from the 
very sound is remarkably suggestive of its true charac- 
ter. Litigation, naturally enough, grew out of this 
unexpected and summary interference with the farmers' 
occupation. Lawsuits have been going on for many 
years between the valley farmers and the hydraulic 
miners, in which the former have been seeking com- 
pensation for the damage done to their farms, and the 
prevention of any further damage by the legal stop- 
page of the hydraulic system of mining. 



212 HISTORY OF CALIFORNIA. 



CHAPTER XXV. 

Agricultural Progress. — Wiue-making. — Semi-tropical Fruit Cul- 
ture.— Earthquakes. — Prospects. — Industrial Development.— 
Settlement. — Tourists.— Climate. — Commerce. 

With the decadence of gold-mining, the cultivation 
of the soil progressed. In these later years, California 
has become best known as an agricultural State. The 
wheat crop of 1880 was worth over $50,000,000. 
Grape-growing, in the manufacture of wine and raisins, 
has developed into an imj^ortant industry. The an- 
nual vintage is nearly ten million gallons. New vine- 
yards are constantly springing into existence all over 
the State, for there are but few counties which are ap- 
parently unadapted to grape culture. The wines of 
California were at first considered inferior to imported 
wines. But experience in the culture of the vine, the 
importation of the best varieties of grape-vines from 
abroad, and the knowledge wrought of experience in 
the manufacture of wine have raised the standard, 
until it is now no uncommon thing to find California 
wines selling under the labels of the choicest of foreign 
products. 



HISTORY OJ' CALIFORNIA. 21^ 

Grape-growing dates back as far as the settlement 
of the missions by the Franciscan Fathers. So also 
does oranore culture. But neither of these industries 
made any material progress before 1870. Now, orange, 
lemon, and lime culture, like the cultivation of the 
vine, has been developed into a very profitable indus- 
try. Oranges form one of the chief products of Los 
Angeles County. There are several very flourishing 
settlements in the southern counties, where orange cul- 
ture is almost the sole occupation of the inhabitants. 
The cultivation of the olive is another industry begun 
by the founders of the missions, the first olive orchard 
being planted by them at San Diego, where it still 
flourishes adjacent to the crumbling ruins of the old 
Mission Church. The climate of the State is general- 
ly favorable to the cultivation of fruits such as belong 
to the semi-tropical and temperate zones. 

The seasons are practically divided into the rainy 
and dry, the former beginning ordinarily in Novem- 
ber and ending in April. Along the coast snow sel- 
dom falls, excepting on the summits of the Coast 
Ranges. But in the Sierra a heavy fall of snow usual- 
ly occurs every winter. On the 31st of December, 
1882, an extraordinary snow-storm occurred all along 
the coast. At San Francisco tliere was over three 



1214 HISTORY OF CALIFORNIA. 

inches of snow on the ground, something previously 
unknown in its history. But it lasted only one day, 
not a vestige of it remaining to be seen next morning. 
Most of those who had been born in the State had 
never before seen snow, and the unusual pastime of 
snow-balling was freely indulged in by all classes and 
both sexes in the public streets. The orange groves 
of the southern counties presented an extraordinary 
spectacle, the snow covering their deep green foliage. 
Frosts in the greater part of the State are rare and 
light. 

During the dry season the prevailing winds are 
from the west. Coming from the ocean, they temper 
the heat of the day and make the nights pleasantly 
cool. Along the coast fogs are prevalent during the 
summer season, coming in shore late in the afternoon, 
and dissipating with the rising of the sun next morning. 

At one time in the history of California earth- 
quakes were considered one of the startling phenom- 
ena of nature common to it. Such can scarcely be 
said any longer. The most severe earthquake ever 
experienced in San Francisco was in October, 1868, 
when several buildings, erected on insecure founda- 
tions, were shattered. In 1872 many of the adobe 
structures of the towns of Cerro Gordo, Independence, 



HISTORY OF CALIFORNIA. 



215 



and Lone Pine were destroyed, and some persons 
killed and injured, by an earthquake which occurred 
in the dead of night. Since then, what earthquakes 
have occurred have been light and infrequent. They 
have long ago ceased to excite any sense of insecurity 
among the inhabitants of the State. 

The prospects of California may be said to be 
unusually bright. It has enjoyed years of quiet 
and prosperity. Its railroad system is every year 
opening up new fields of wealth and industry. Set- 
tlers are flocking to it from abroad and taking up 
its vacant lands. Visitors swarm to it during the win- 
ter for health and recreation, and to avoid the vigor- 
ous climate of the East. The magnificent scenery of 
the Sierra, the gorgeousness of the State's semi-tropi- 
cal fruits and vegetation, the beauty of its water- 
ing-places, and the delightfulness of its genial climate 
are becoming more attractive to the tourists as they 
are becoming better known. Its industrial wealth is 
undergoing rapid development. Each year witnesses 
the establishment of some new industry, either in the 
cultivation of the soil or in the mechanical arts. It 
enjoys a vast and growing trade with China, Japan, 
British Columbia, Australia, New Zealand, Hawaiian 
Islands, Mexico, Central and South America, the 



210 HISTORY OF CALIFORNIA. 

islands of the South Pacific Ocean, Great Britain, and 
the Eastern States. The extension of the Southern 
Pacific Railroad through the Territories of Arizona 
and New Mexico, and the building of a system of 
railroads through the northern states of Mexico, has 
opened new markets and materially stimulated its 
commerce. The next generation will no doubt wit- 
ness a more wonderful industrial development in it 
than that which has been witnessed by the generation 
which is now passing away. 



THE END. 



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Bullet and Shell, 

^23ar as the -SolDicr eaip xi. 

By GEORGE F. WILLIAMS. 
55llu0ttaicD 

WITH ENGRAVINGS FROM SKETCHES AMONG THE ACTUAL SCENES 

By EDWIN FORBES. 

RED CLOTH, . - - - . PRICE, $3.SO. 
BLUE CLOTH GILT, . - . '< 4.00. 



Highly endorsed by the Eastern Press, and herewith see Notices of our Papers: 

Alta Califomia. 
Many works of many natures have been written about our late civil war, but none, 
we believe, w.ll be more popular or be more generally read than " Bullet and Shell." 
It is a well-told slory of an actual fighter. The reader cannot lail to be at once in- 
terested. 

Post. 
We doubt if there has been published a more eutertuining book on the war than this 
one. It is as engaging as a novel, as brightas romance. The style is crisp and graphic. 
Examinei'. 
"Bullet and Shell " is among the most entertaining contributions to the history 
of the late war. The incidents read as though they had been written on a drum-head 
in the held of battle. 

Bulletin. 
To the lovers of war stories it will be extremely fascinating. The volume is full 
of short anecdotes of soldiei's' experiences and graphic descriptions of the "pomp 
and circumstance " of war. 

Record- Onion. 
It is a connected story ofthe ventures of a soldier during the late war, which details 
in a narrative f jrm many of the minor incidents of camp and soldier life, which is so 
interestingin social recital, but doesnotappcarin tlie gcnurul history of such conflicts. 
Argonaut. 
" Bullet and Shell " is one of the most striking books descriptive of army life that 
has been published. It is excellently illustrated by spiritcu etchings from the hand of 
Edwin Forbes, a member of the French Etching Club, who was present at many of 
the battles described in the volume. Mr. Williams has a singularly vivid manner in 
describing the exciting and terrible scenes of battle, siege, and march. 
Chronicle. 
It combines the features of a strong and accurate description and of personal ad- 
venture, which l»^nd3 great interest to the story and makes it as readable as a novel. 
Inierspe'sed w;ih the record of battle and march arc many little anecdotes, pa'hctic 
and humorous, which prove that there was a strong fraternal tecling between North 
and .South, in spite of the bitter hostility. The book is lavishly illustrated. 
News Letter. 
Throughout the pages of his book Mr. Williams lias preserved a vigorously vivid 
style, and the stirring panorama of the soldier's life, as it passes betrire the reader's 
63 e, never becomes wearisome or monotonous. 

San Jose Mercurif. 
For the first time we are permitted to look into'the camps of twenty years ago and 
get an inside view of war as ihe soldiers saw it. 



A. ROMAN. 

GENERAL AGENT FOR THE PACIFIC COAST, 

120 Sutter Street, (up stairs,) 

Agents Wanted. san francisco, cal. 



''^-M^ 




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